Power Struggle
by LucretiaDecoy
Summary: COMPLETE. Kevin Mask's younger brother and his DMP gang take on the Muscle League in a tournament that involves fighting in the ring and serious mind games outside the ring, with the girls' futures at stake.
1. Kevin's Worst Nightmare

**A/N:** This fic was originally posted here more than two years ago, but was incomplete. By random chance, I was reading through my old UM material, and when I got to this one, I found myself picking it right back up and writing on.

So here it is. Again. This time hopefully it will be completed.

This one picks up from the exact moment my other UM fic _Kinniku Roxanne_ left off at – and as it is continuation of my other works, it's probably best to read those first, or at least check out _Bad Boys_ and _Kinniku Roxanne_ just so that this one makes a little more sense.

For those who know my work, ignore this paragraph, for those who don't, please note that (until recently) I was only familiar with the dubbed anime version of UM, and so all characters names and personalities are most closely linked to the anime dub and not the manga.

At the end of _Kinniku Roxanne_: Edward Mask and The Anarchists kidnapped Jacqueline McMadd, Roxanne, Trixie and Kiki, and challenged the Muscle League to a fight back on Earth. Edward dropped a sleeping gas bomb on the crowd and set fire to the hall: which is where this one begins.

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Kevin's Worst Nightmare**

The hall of Muscleham Palace was a picture of pandemonium as the guests of the royal wedding ran around, trying to fight off the raging and ever-increasing fire, trying to escape from the building, trying to rescue those who had fallen victim to the effects of the sleeping gas, and trying to avoid being caught by the sleeping gas themselves.

Terryman had lifted his cravat up over his mouth and nose, offering him enough protection to help rescue some of those who lay unconscious. King Muscle and Meat were able to escape the effects of the gas by activating the mouth-guards of their masks, and both were trying their best to control the fire with buckets of water. Robin Mask's mask was proving to also be an effective block for the gas, and he too was distributing his efforts between rescuing the fallen and staving off the fire as best he could.

Kevin, meanwhile, was still standing in the exact position he had been in before the chaos had even begun: next to the buffet table, a half-eaten chicken leg in one hand, smirking at the scene before him. Although none of the other guests had spotted that Kevin was standing redundantly on the sidelines, he felt quite sure that if they were to see him, they would be furious with him; and that thought only made his smile grow larger.

"Bloody ridiculous state of affairs," he muttered, before casually finishing off the chicken leg.

Kevin had given up on the notion that the worst of his day had already past. Things could get worse, he told himself. They could get much worse, in fact. Apparently, this truly was the worst day of his life. It was possibly not the worst day of his life ever, but it was certainly the worst day so far. He was powerless to stop the madness from happening around him, so he decided he was going to just relax and let it happen. Mars was always relaxed, and he was always a lot happier than Kevin was. Not caring about anyone or anything certainly did seem to have its benefits; and Kevin really did not have anyone or anything left in his life worth caring about.

Kevin sucked the meat juices from each of his fingers in turn, squinting through the bedlam before him as he caught sight of something red in the rubble. Kevin reached a hand out to the table in front of himself, fumbling around blindly for his mask as he tried to confirm that what he was looking at was just what he thought it was.

"Mars…" he muttered, as a chunk of rubble slid away from Mars's limp form, causing him to flop over, his unconscious face turned towards Kevin.

Kevin finally looked away from Mars for long enough to locate his mask and grab it up. He hurriedly pulled it back on, securing it firmly into place to ensure that he would not suffer from the effects of the sleeping gas himself. Kevin then leapt over the table and ran straight through the thick of the smoke, grabbing Mars up and hoisting him over his back.

"Good God you're still as heavy as ever!" Kevin groaned as he staggered out of the hall with his friend.

Outside, Kevin found that most of the guests from the wedding, along with the staff of Muscleham Palace, were already safe, gathering around in groups and working their way between controlling the fire externally and checking for missing friends, co-workers and family members.

Kevin placed Mars on the ground, looking around himself suspiciously. Whilst there were throngs of people around him, he could not locate a single Muscle Leaguer. It was, of course, entirely possible that they were all still inside fighting the fire, he told himself, but it was equally as possible that some of them were still stranded or still rescuing others who had fallen; and either way, Kevin's help would be needed.

With a sigh, Kevin turned back to the hall and jogged back over to the door, slowing as he re-entered the building. Kevin almost immediately spotted Jaeger, lying unconscious a sort distance from where Mars had fallen. Kevin hurried over to him, grabbing him up, relieved that the German was much smaller and lighter than Mars had been. As he turned to walk out again, something else caught Kevin's eye, and he turned his head to see Terry Kenyon lying on the ground too. Kevin picked his way through the rubble to Terry's side, balancing Jaeger over one shoulder and holding him in place with one hand, Kevin grabbed Terry's wrist with his other hand, dragging the Texan Chojin out behind him.

"Is that everyone?" Kevin called out, as he dropped Jaeger down to the ground and released Terry.

"What happened?" Mars groaned, sitting up as he finally woke up.

"I think that's everyone now," Belinda said confidently. "All the guests are here, and all our staff are out too."

"Everyone's here except Roxanne, Trixie, Kiki and Jacqueline," Kid moaned from his position sat on the ground.

"I know it's bad son, but the main thing right now is that everyone else escaped alive and unharmed," King Muscle said, patting his son on the head reassuringly.

"Wait, Sire!" one of the royal servants called out, running over towards King Muscle. "The kitchen staff are all still inside the building!"

"The kitchen staff?" King Muscle echoed.

"They were on the upper level of the kitchen, Sire," the man continued. "They were cleaning the dishes from the wedding meal."

"What about my chef?" King Muscle asked.

"All of the kitchen staff are still in there, Sire, including the chef!"

"No!" King Muscle wailed, running off with his arms above his head.

"Dad, the kitchen's this way!" Kid yelled after his father, pointing back in the opposite direction.

"Don't just sit there, son!" King Muscle yelled back as he turned to run back in the direction Kid was pointing. "Our chef's life is in danger here! If we don't do something, there'll be no more cow and rice for breakfast, served to us while we still lie in our beds!"

"What?!" Kid yelped, leaping to his feet. "No more cow and rice in bed? No!"

Kid sprinted off around the outside of the building, followed closely by his father. Kevin let out a sigh of despair, shaking his head.

"In all honesty, what are their chances of survival?" he asked Belinda.

"Very little," Belinda confessed. "The fire has spread so far and so quickly, the only way out for them now is through the window, and it's too high for them to jump from it. And the window is actually for display purposes only, it doesn't actually open, so they would have to find a means of breaking it, first…"

Mars slowly stood up, an angered and determined expression creasing his face.

"Dat little bastard brother of yours has already ruined my night, I ain't lettin' him kill some innocent servants too!" he said to Kevin.

"Right you are," Kevin agreed. "Let's go help."

"We especially ain't lettin' Eddie kill a guy who can make food taste so good," Mars added.

Mars jogged on after the king and prince of Planet Muscle, catching up with King Muscle as he rounded the corner of the palace. Kevin reluctantly ran after them, slowing as he rounded the corner himself.

Ahead of them, Kid Muscle was standing below a wide window set high in the wall some thirty feet in the air. A chain of cloths tied end-to-end hung from the window, and the kitchen staff were in the process of climbing down it, one-by-one.

"Looks like they've got everything in hand already," Kevin commented.

King Muscle, Mars and Kevin joined Kid as he watched the Kinniku servants slowly climb down the outer palace wall.

"Chef!" King Muscle said impatiently. "Where is my chef?"

"Up there, Sire," a woman in a waitress's outfit replied.

"What's taking so long?" King Muscle demanded from the girl. "I want my chef. Now!"

"The chef insisted on staying in the kitchen until everyone else had escaped safely, Sire," the waitress calmly replied.

"What?" Kid yelped. "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"It's called honour, you miserable fool!" Kevin snapped.

"No more cow and rice in bed…?" Kid whispered as he looked up at the window.

"Is the fire actually in the kitchen?" King Muscle asked the waitress by his side.

"Yes, Sire," she confirmed. "But don't worry, the chef is controlling it. After punching through the window and making the chain of cloth for us to climb down–"

"Punching through the window?" King Muscle screamed. "You let my chef punch through the window? With a fist?"

King Muscle jabbed a fist through the air to demonstrate his point, narrowly missing punching a young man in a waiter's outfit square in the face.

"Wid all due respect, Your Majesty, dey was gonna die if dey didn't break dat window," Mars pointed out. "And it ain't no big deal. I'm sure you can afford a new one, right?"

"I don't care about the window!" King Muscle roared. "A window can be replaced! The hand of my chef cannot!"

"Resourceful fellow, isn't he?" Kevin commented. "Making that chain of cloths like that. Breaking the window with his bare fist, fighting the fire alone and ensuring the safety of his own staff first is a damn fine example of bravery, too. I wonder if he would like a job at the Mask Estate back on Earth?"

"I'm sure your chef will be just fine," Mars assured King Muscle. "He's probably a big guy, right? Da sorta guy who can easily punch out a window like its nothin' more dan a piece o' paper. He's a Kinniku, yeah?"

"No, you fool, my chef is from Earth!" King Muscle raged. "And it took me a very long time to find someone so skilled! To find someone with such talent, and to convince that person to leave their own home world was a challenge in itself! And for the record, my chef is anything but big!"

"That's everyone now, Sire," the waitress said, as another man dropped to the ground in front of them. "It's just the chef that's left."

"Good!" King Muscle said, sighing with relief.

The others watched silently from the ground as a figure dressed in white, with a giant white hat and a large, blood-soaked white cloth wrapping tightly around one hand, began to climb out of the window.

"Be careful, the fire is spreading inside!" one of the kitchen staff yelled up to the chef.

Kevin twitched as a small creaking sound reached his ears. The cloth rope the chef was using to climb down suddenly ignited at the window, the flames quickly burning a hole right through the rope. The chef let out a piercing scream and those below leapt forwards in an attempt to prevent a disaster.

"Got you!" Kevin groaned as the weight of the chef's body tugged on his arms.

Kevin looked down at the pile of white cloth in his hands, a frown creeping onto his features beneath his mask. King Muscle had been right about one thing at least: his chef was anything but big.

"Oh, thank you!" a female voice said as the left, unbandaged, hand pushed at the white hat that had fallen over the chef's face. "Thank you so much, Sir! You saved my life! You must be my… Angel… Kevin? Kevin Mask?"

Kevin gulped audibly as he looked down at the woman in his arms. Although her figure was concealed beneath her excessively bulky white clothing, and her large white hat still hid her head and her hair from view, her large dark eyes and the two distinct scars across her face immediately gave her identity away.

"Amy?" Kevin eventually managed. "Amy MacLeod?"

For a brief moment, Amy stared up at Kevin, her eyes wide and childlike, her lips slightly parted as though she was about to talk; but as she studied Kevin, her face slowly twisted, a scowl creasing and darkening her features.

"Get your stinking hands offa me!" she yelled, wriggling in his arms, struggling to break free from his hold.

Kevin fought against Amy to lower her to the ground, placing her on her feet. As soon as her feet were both securely on the ground, Amy shuffled back several steps from Kevin, glowering at him indignantly.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" they both yelled at each other in unison.

"I asked you first!" Amy quickly added.

"I don't have to answer to you!" Kevin snapped.

"And besides, I work here!" Amy sneered, waving her bandaged, bloody hand at her chef's uniform. "What's your excuse?"

"I was invited to the wedding?" Kevin sighed, wholly unable to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

Amy turned to Kid Muscle, frowning at him and tilting her head to one side in confusion.

"You invited Kevin Mask to your wedding?" she asked him.

Kevin gasped in offence and shock, watching as Kid shrugged his shoulders and began to pick his nose.

"I had to, Mars said he wouldn't come if I didn't invite Kevin too," Kid frankly replied, as he inspected his finger after pulling it from his nostril.

"What?" Kevin yelped.

"You invited Mars as well?" Amy echoed.

Amy slowly turned her head to one side, sighing as her eyes rested on Mars, who was standing smirking at her, his expression alone making him recognisable despite the fact that he was not wearing his headdress and he was dressed in a tuxedo.

"Oh this night just keeps getting better and better!" she groaned. "Why did you have to invite Mars to your wedding, Kid?"

"Because he's dating Kiki?" Kid innocently replied, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

"Huh?" Mars snapped, his smirk dropping from his face.

"Well, Roxanne wanted to have Kiki at the wedding as one of her bridesmaids, and Kiki wouldn't come without you," Kid explained to Mars. "And then you said you wouldn't come without Kevin Mask, so then I had to invite you both, even though I didn't even want either of you here!"

"You little asshole, I oughta–"

"Mars, wait!" Kevin yelled, running towards Mars, holding up one hand to halt Mars's advance on Kid.

"Okay, before this day gets any weirder, or any crapper, can someone please tell me what, or maybe even who, started the fire?" Amy asked, looking around the others. "I pride myself on the fact that no kitchen of mine has ever caught fire before now, so what happened this time?"

"My little brother," Kevin flatly replied.

"What?" Amy echoed, spinning on her heels to face him.

"My brother and the remaining members of the DMP broke into the hall and kidnapped the girls and set fire to the whole place," Kevin explained.

"Oh God, they're all back!" Amy moaned. "Scarface, squealer and Eddie! Fantastic! Just when I thought that this day couldn't possibly get any worse!"

Amy tore her hat from her head, throwing it down to the ground with a growl of frustration.

"Wait a minute!" Mars said, waggling a finger at Amy. "I know you!"

Amy arched her eyebrows, eying Mars anxiously from the corner of her eye.

"Ain't you dat skinny horse-faced girl from High Park?" Mars asked.

"Horse-faced?" Amy echoed. "Hey, better horse-faced than bird-arsed!"

"Dat don't even make any sense," Mars pointed out.

"This is insane!" Amy wailed. "I'm outta here!"

"Not so fast!" Kevin yelled, stepping into her path.

"What do you want?" she snapped, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at him.

"Some manners wouldn't go amiss, but for now I'll make do with a simple answer to a very simple question," Kevin dryly replied.

"The very simple question being…?" Amy pressed.

"What do you know about what my brother is planning to do now that he's kidnapped those stupid little…"

Kevin hesitated as he caught sight of Mars and Kid scowling at him angrily. He cleared his throat awkwardly before shifting his eyes back to Amy and continuing.

"Now that he's kidnapped those girls?" Kevin asked, trying not to put too much emphasise on the word "girls".

"How the hell should I know?" Amy asked.

"Because you're a nosey, interfering bloody cow who makes it her business to know every little detail about everyone else's affairs!" Kevin snapped irritably.

"For your information, during the Chojin Crown, I met King Muscle, and he offered me the job here on Muscle Planet," Amy tightly replied. "I accepted there and then, and the day after your match against Mars, after I returned your stupid mask to you, I got on a spaceship to here, and that's where I've been ever since then!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

"And what about before then, eh?"

"What, you honestly think that I had nothing better to do than to sit around and spy on the DMP for the rest of my life?"

"It's all you ever did before! You sold my life story to the McMadds, you scheming little bitch!"

"I sold your life story? You were the one who sold me out! Thanks to you, I was robbed!"

"What the devil are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you telling the McMadds about the information I gathered about the DMP back when you were a Devil Chojin!"

"I never told them that!"

"Then why did they try to buy information about the DMP from me?"

"Why did you sell it to them?"

"I didn't! And then they stole it from me! I came home one night to find that my apartment had been broken into and I'd been robbed!"

"What?"

Kevin straightened, frowning down at Amy in confusion.

"Don't look so innocent, I know it was you!" she snarled, jabbing the point of her index finger into his chest. "My neighbours saw you running away with my stuff!"

"I never did that!" Kevin insisted. "And I certainly never mentioned you to the McMadds. I hardly ever talk to the McMadds, and when I do, it's usually a case of me telling one of them to bugger off!"

"If you didn't tell the McMadds about my journals, then who did?" Amy sneered.

"Hey, it ain't my fault people talk sometimes!" Mars said innocently.

Kevin and Amy rounded on Mars, glowering at him questioningly.

"I may have told some of da guys at da Hercules Factory about da horse-face girl, but I sure didn't tell da McMadds!" Mars explained.

"Who did you tell, and what did you say?" Kevin demanded.

"I told…" Mars began, his eyes wandering from Kevin as his face paled. "Y'know… Buffaloman… And maybe just… Robin Mask…"

"You told my father?" Kevin yelled.

"Maybe," Mars weakly replied.

"You're the horse-face girl?" King Muscle asked, pointing at Amy.

Amy rolled her eyes, sighing in despair.

"You told a Kinniku?" Kevin growled at Mars.

"No, I swear to God!" Mars replied defensively.

"Robin Mask told me," King Muscle cheerfully explained. "And I told Mantaro!"

"And I told Jacqueline!" Kid said proudly.

"There you have it!" Kevin declared proudly. "This is all Kid Muscle's fault!"

"No it's not!" Amy snapped. "He was only repeating the story! I blame the originator!"

"Alright then, this is all Mars's fault then!" Kevin said.

"No, this is all your fault, dickhead!" Amy spat. "Now if you will please excuse me, I have to get going! Some of us have a job to do!"

Amy marched off, at which point Kid Muscle began to snigger to himself.

"What are you laughing at, dimwit?" Kevin sneered.

"She hates you, it's funny!" Kid giggled. "She likes everyone, but she hates you!"

"She does not like everyone!" Kevin shortly replied.

"Dat's true," Mars agreed. "I reckon she's got da hots for me. Dat's why she's so mad, you told her I already had a girlfriend."

Kevin sighed, hanging his head.

"Are we going back to Earth or not?" he asked. "Before this day can get any worse than it already has for me, please let us just leave this place immediately!"

"Sure Kev, you guys go on ahead, dere's somethin' I just gotta pack," Mars said, before walking off.

Kevin nodded his head, turning to King Muscle.

"We need the fastest spaceship out of here," he explained.

"Of course, I'll get on it," King Muscle agreed.

Kevin turned to Kid to ask him a question, but decided against it as he found Kid picking at his nose with one hand and scratching down the back of his underpants with the other, a vacant expression plastered across his masked face again. With a sigh of despair, Kevin turned away from the group and headed back to the spaceship docking area.

Kevin was glad to see that the others were hurrying around, readying themselves for the journey back to Earth, and by the time he actually reached the spaceport, most of the Muscle Leaguers were already onboard a ship. Kevin quickly made his way onto the spaceship, stopping at the bridge and slowly scanning over the faces around him.

"Van Dik, Tusket, Kenyon, Checkmate, Jaeger…" he muttered. "Muscle…" he added as Kid Muscle joined them. "Has anyone seen Mars?" he asked.

"He went down to the lower deck," Kid replied.

"Is everyone onboard?" the pilot shouted back.

"Yeah!" the others called to him.

"Alright then, prepare for take-off!"

As the engines of the spaceship roared to life, Kevin began to frown, his mind trying to piece together just what was wrong with his current situation.

"Why would Mars go down to the lower deck?" he asked slowly.

"Well I dunno!" Kid replied, shrugging his shoulders. "All that's down there is the cargo bay and the holding cell."

"The what?" Kevin echoed.

"The cargo bay?" Kid offered.

"And?"

"The holding cell?"

"Holding cell? Like a prison cell?"

"Yeah, kind of. This ship belongs to the Royal Guard, sometimes they need to take prisoners."

"So what would Mars want in the cargo bay or with a prison cell?"

"I dunno, someplace to keep his stuff and stash a prisoner?"

"Stash a prisoner, really Kid Muscle, what an imagination you have…"

Kevin slowly fell silent as a sickening idea occurred to him. His knees bent slightly beneath him as the spaceship took off, rising upwards through the night sky of Muscle Planet, but otherwise he remained perfectly still as his mind slowly worked through the idea.

"Oh, bollocks…" he grumbled. "Excuse me."

Kevin pushed past Kid, marching along the bridge to the steel staircase that lead down to the lower deck. Before Kevin could even see any proof of what he had suspected to be true, he heard confirmation of his suspicions. As Kevin neared the prison cell, he could see and hear Mars standing laughing and pointing at the cell itself, and he could hear the angered protests of the person locked within.

"When I get out of here, I'm gonna ring your neck, you filthy bird-bastard!"

Kevin stopped my Mars's side, his presence causing Mars's prisoner to fall silent and turn white.

"What the bloody hell did you have to take her on board for?" Kevin asked Mars.

"Da entertainment value?" Mars offered. "Besides, you got stables at da Mask Estate, we could keep her out dere as our pet!"

"How dare you?" Amy screamed, grabbing her arms through the bars at Mars.

Mars laughed as she stretched her fingertips out towards him, failing to reach him by the narrowest of margins.

"At least let her out, Mars," Kevin said. "We'll tell the pilot to take her straight back to Muscle Planet as soon as we get to Earth. I don't think I can stand having her around any longer than that."

"Ah, you're no fun no more, Kev!" Mars moaned. "I'll tell ya what, we'll let da pilot take her back, but let's just keep her in dere until we get to Earth, yeah?"

"No!" Kevin sternly replied, snatching the key for the cell from Mars's hand.

Kevin marched up to the cell door, whereupon Amy instantly took a large step back from the bars, pulling her arms back inside the cell. She watched Kevin with large eyes as he unlocked the door and then pulled it open.

"Go on, out you get," Kevin said to her.

Mars began to mutter under his breath, walking back around the holding cell to the staircase leading back to the main deck. Once he was out of sight, Amy cautiously crept out of the cell, leaping on the spot as Kevin banged the door shut behind her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, avoiding his eyes.

Kevin threw the key down at her feet, causing her to sharply lift her head to look directly at him.

"Just make sure that you are definitely on the return flight," he said coldly.

Amy's face twisted into a scowl, but Kevin turned away from her and began to walk in the same direction Mars had disappeared in.

"I never wanted to be on this flight in the first place!" she yelled after him. "Arsehole…"

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kevin battles with insomnia during the journey back to Earth, but someone else onboard the spaceship has the perfect cure for his problem. **Chapter 2 – Gorgeous Sleep**. 


	2. Gorgeous Sleep

**A/N:** This franchise is growing arms and legs, although these reposted chapters are around 4K words, the stuff I am writing now is 6K per chapter… This is potentially turning into my longest fic ever.

**Recap:** Kevin helped rescue King Muscle's chef from the fire, only to discover that she was in fact Amy MacLeod, the Muscle League took off for Earth, but Mars packed Amy onboard too, against her will.

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Gorgeous Sleep**

Kevin Mask lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling of his small bedchamber. The journey from Muscle Planet to Earth took over twenty hours, even for a spaceship of the Kinniku Royal Guard, and so everyone had retired to their beds shortly after take-off; but yet again, Kevin was having a restless night.

Sighing out of sheer frustration, Kevin sat up, twisting around to beat his fists into his pillow repeatedly. He dropped back down again, lying still for barely a few seconds before turning onto his left side, and then his right and then onto his back, and then eventually sitting up again. Kevin fumbled with the fastening of his mask, muttering curses to himself as he struggled to release the catch. When he eventually did manage to open his mask, Kevin lifted it off his head and threw it down to the floor below him, where it landed with a resounding clank.

Kevin lay back down onto his back, blowing his hair back off his eyes. He pulled his bed sheets up to his shoulders, lying that way for a few seconds before deciding that the real reason he could not sleep was down to the fact that he was far too hot. Kevin scraped the bed sheets off his body, kicking them to the floor, lying on his back wearing only his boxer shorts, his legs and arms spread apart at his sides.

"It's no bloody use," he grumbled, sitting up again, dragging his legs up to cross them in front of himself. "I'm never going to get any sleep on this God-forsaken spaceship!"

Kevin ran his fingers through his hair, scraping it back from his face, only for it to slowly fall back down over his eyes again.

"Well if I'm not going to sleep, I be as well do something more constructive with my time," he muttered, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and planting his feet onto the ground.

Kevin slowly stood up, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. As tired as he felt, sleep doggedly evaded him at every turn. Kevin slowly dragged his feet towards the bedroom door, smacking a hand against the door to push it open. He shuffled out into the dimly-lit hall outside, looking both ways to ensure that he was definitely alone before continuing on his way.

Kevin pushed his hair back from his face with one hand as he sluggishly walked down the hall, at first not fully aware of where he was heading. After passing several doors, Kevin realised that he was in fact heading towards a door on his left side, which was open, casting a rectangle of yellow light across the hall ahead of him. Kevin smiled briefly to himself, remembering that Mars usually stayed up late at night, and since the light appeared to be coming from the canteen area of the ship, his old friend was probably indulging in another of his many loves: food.

"I thought I might find you in here," Kevin said as he entered the room. "You keep eating like that and you'll end up turning into a right fat bastard!"

Kevin chuckled to himself as he approached the counter in the centre of the small room, resting one arm on its surface. Kevin's smile slowly faded however when he saw that it was not Mars who stood behind the counter.

"Oh…" he muttered, before gulping audibly.

Amy slowly lowered her un-bandaged hand from her mouth, chewing at the chunk she had just bitten out of her sandwich. Kevin remained perfectly still as he watched her eat, not even daring to so much as blink in his state of horrified surprise.

"So…" she said slowly, before pausing to swallow the contents of her mouth. "You think I eat too much, and that I'm getting fat, is that it?"

"I thought you were someone else," Kevin meekly replied.

"Of course," Amy tightly replied, nodding her head. "Here's a little clue to help you pick me out from the others onboard this ship, Kevin: I'm the one with breasts."

Kevin instinctively looked down at Amy's chest upon her remark, at which she let out a short, angered sigh. Kevin quickly lifted his eyes to hers, his eyes widening in alarm.

"Go back to bed, Kevin!" she growled as their eyes met.

"I can't sleep!" Kevin replied defensively.

"Well then what are you doing in here?" she asked.

"I followed the light!" Kevin replied, suddenly realising just how stupid a concept that actually was when said aloud. "And I thought you were Mars!"

Amy quirked an eyebrow at Kevin sardonically.

"An easy mistake to make," she said dryly. "After all, we are both birds…"

"That's not what I meant!" Kevin sighed.

A short silence followed, during which Kevin turned to one side, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to focus his mind onto something, as it seemed to be wandering away from him. Amy moved her hand towards her mouth to take another bite from her sandwich, pausing as Kevin's stomach let out a starved growl. Amy slowly lowered her hand again, smiling in spite of herself as Kevin turned to face her, his cheeks reddening.

"Didn't you eat earlier?" she asked him.

"I didn't much fancy the wedding meal," Kevin quietly replied, before clearing his throat nervously.

"Careful," Amy replied, smirking at him. "You'll offend the chef with talk like that."

Kevin turned sharply to stare at Amy, looking suddenly afraid.

"That was a joke, Kevin," she said flatly, her smirk turning into a frown. "And here, you can have this. I suppose I don't need it, given that I'm already such a fat bastard."

Amy put her partially eaten sandwich down onto the counter, pushing it towards Kevin. She stepped back, placing her hands onto the worktop behind her and hoisting herself upwards to sit on the edge. Kevin frowned down at the sandwich, before slowly looking up at Amy again.

"I don't want that crap," he said. "You've bitten it."

"Oh don't be so childish!" Amy snapped.

"Me? Childish? Feh, you can talk!" Kevin scoffed, turning his back on Amy and sitting down onto a stool at the counter.

"Why are you sitting down?" Amy asked him.

"Because I want to," Kevin plainly replied.

"Look, if you're just going to argue with me, you be as well going back to your bed!"

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"I got here first!"

"Grow up."

"What?"

"Hey, what's goin' in here?" Mars yelled, staggering into the room. "What's all da noise about?"

Amy grumbled to herself, folding her arms across her chest as she lowered her eyes to watch her feet dangling below her.

"Oh hey Kev, what's up?" Mars asked, breaking into a smile.

"I can't sleep," Kevin replied.

"Nah, me neither," Mars agreed, striding over to Kevin's side. "Hey, are you eatin' dis?" he asked, pointing at Amy's sandwich.

"No," Kevin replied.

"Cool."

Mars grabbed up the sandwich, stuffing it all into his mouth before sitting down onto the stool next to Kevin's, his back turned to Amy.

"Y'know, I sometimes had dat problem too," Mars said through a mouthful of food.

"What, you had an annoying little girl hanging around you too, did you?" Kevin asked him sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder at Amy.

"Oh yeah, I get dat all da time," Mars casually replied. "But hey, I'm a good lookin' guy, it comes wid da territory, ya know what I'm sayin'? And besides, I've had to put up wid it all my life, it ain't like I ain't used to it by now. But I wasn't talkin' about dat. I was talkin' about not bein' able to sleep."

"You have problems getting to sleep at night because you sleep all morning, Mars," Kevin frankly replied. "Rising at two in the afternoon and expecting to be ready for sleep at ten at night is just plain stupidity."

"I was talkin' about when I was in da Hercules Factory," Mars corrected him. "I was up early every day, and I was tired at nights, but I just couldn't sleep. I guess I was always gettin' gorgeous sleep, and I just forgot how to sleep like a normal guy does. Kinda like tonight. I can't sleep tonight cause I gotta do it da same way guys like you do, Kev."

Kevin frowned, eying Mars over.

"Mars?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah?" Mars asked, before swallowing Amy's sandwich over.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about now?" Kevin patiently asked.

"I'm talkin' about gorgeous sleep, ya know…" Mars slowly stopped, his fangs glinting in the light as a smirk spread across his face. "Heh, look who I'm talkin' to! Of course you don't know what gorgeous sleep is!"

Kevin narrowed his eyes.

"Not everyone needs sex to get to sleep, you crude cock," Amy grumbled, slipping off the worktop and walking around the counter.

"Hey, get back here!" Mars yelled after her. "Cause you know dat's why you ain't sleepin' neither!"

"Whatever!" Amy called back without turning round.

Kevin looked up in time to see Amy disappear through the door, leaving him alone with Mars.

"But yeah, Merrylegs was right, Kev," Mars continued. "Sleep maybe rests da body, but only gorgeous sleep can make ya wake up feelin' on top of da world, and to have gorgeous sleep, good, restful, gorgeous sleep, ya gotta have sex before ya go to bed."

"Yes, thank you so very much for that perfectly useless piece of information, Mars," Kevin blankly replied.

"Hey no problem, Kev," Mars said with a nod of his head, entirely failing to notice Kevin's obvious sarcasm. "And hey, I hear Trixie's got a sister dat would do you–"

"Mars, please," Kevin hurriedly interrupted him. "You're really not helping."

"Nah, I guess not," Mars agreed with a sigh. "It ain't like we can do anythin' about it up here in space on dis stupid ship. When I get my hands on your brother, I'ma make you an only child, Kev."

"I'm sure you will."

"Well hey, I only came in here cause I heard all da shoutin', I'm goin' back to bed now. You should go too. Remember dat when we get back to Earth, we gotta face Eddie and his dumb little friends."

"How could I forget?"

"G'night, Kev."

"Good night, Mars."

Mars slid off his stool, sauntering out of the room and leaving Kevin alone once more. Despite the fact that he still felt hungry, Kevin decided against eating, and instead took Mars's advice, making his way back to his room in the hope that he would somehow manage to sleep before they landed on Earth again.

On his way back to his room, Kevin passed a junction in the corridor, skidding to a halt at it as something unusual caught his eye. Kevin turned to look down the other corridor, frowning at the shapes on the ground ahead of him. The corridor was flooded with an unusual pale blue light which made the walls and floor themselves appear to be blue; but at the back corner of the corridor lay a black patch, a dark circular shadow that looked out of place.

Kevin slowly crept towards the shadow, stopping again a short distance from it as he found that only the first section of the corridor was covered by a solid roof. Looking upwards, Kevin saw that the roof opened up to the very top of the ship. At the highest point of the roof was a large, circular Perspex window, affording a view of the stars, planets and distant galaxies outside. At the very end of the corridor, directly in front of Kevin, was a large ladder, leading up to the window.

Kevin edged closer to the ladder, his eyes slowly following it up to its uppermost point. At one side of the top of the ladder he could just make out a person sitting curled up, looking out of the window. Kevin did not need to study the figure very hard to know that it was Amy. Sitting up by the window, still dressed in her white chef's uniform, one hand still crudely bandaged from injury by a towel, her hair now loose and hanging over her shoulders, she almost looked like a nice girl.

Almost, Kevin told himself, his eyes narrowing.

Kevin very briefly wondered if he should ask her about the injuries she had sustained to her hand, but quickly decided against it. King Muscle appeared to value her very highly, and Kevin was certain that as soon as she got back to Muscle Planet, King Muscle would see to it personally that Amy was taken very good care of. She was certainly not Kevin's concern.

With that thought in mind, Kevin turned on his heel and walked back down the corridor, rejoining the main corridor back to his room. His biggest concern for the time being was his brother Edward. Kevin could clearly remember Edward's two friends from his own days with the DMP, and they had never truly posed any threat to a Chojin of Kevin's calibre; but that had been almost five years ago.

Edward had certainly changed since Kevin had last seen him, growing in height and in build. Kevin doubted that Edward's friend Fargo could have grown much more, as he had been older than Edward, and already frightening large. Edward's other friend, Master DJ, had always been short in height and slight of build, but for what he lacked in physical presence, he more than made up for with lightning speed and lethal wrestling tactics.

As for Edward's three friends that only Mars knew of, and now his two newest recruits, Kevin could not be sure. Mars had not seemed too worried by any of the six Anarchists that he knew of, so Kevin decided that the only real problem lay in just who Edward's two newest Anarchists really were.

* * *

"Stop scratchin'!" Meat snapped, slapping Kid's elbow.

"But it itches so bad!" Kid wailed, tears forming in his eyes.

"Heck, these sure ain't the most comfortable of clothes, Meat!" Terry added, looking down over his shoulders at himself.

"I feel like a Christmas decoration," Dik Dik said flatly, his ears drooping at the sides of his head.

"Why do we have to wear these horrible clothes anyway?" Kid wailed, scratching both hands at his back.

"Because we didn't have time to pack before we left, and we can't go the IWF Headquarters wearin' the same clothes we wore to fight a fire in!" Meat yelled. "Now stop scratchin'!"

"I don't feel right vearing ze Kinniku Royal Guard uniform," Jaeger confessed, looking down at himself as he spoke.

"I feel like I'm in the navy," Wally muttered.

"Tis not that bad!" Checkmate said. "I myself rather like these garments, truth be told!"

"Not dat bad?" Mars roared as he joined the group. "Dis sucks! I look like… Like…"

"A Nazi?" Kevin suggested as he joined the others.

"Stop your whinin'!" Meat yelled, flapping his arms around impatiently. "All of you! We're not here to look good we're here to save the planet! To fight the forces of evil! To–"

"Calm down, Meat!" Kid interrupted him.

Meat sighed, slouching his shoulders.

"We're gonna be landin' on Earth in about an hour, make sure you're all ready," he said quietly, before walking off and leaving the eight Muscle Leaguers behind him.

Kid watched his manager go, waiting until he had disappeared from sight before turning back to the others.

"This is all your fault!" he cried suddenly, pointing at Kevin.

"Why is it my fault?" Kevin asked.

"Because your brother stole my wife, and made me have to go back to Earth in these horrible clothes, and he tried to kill my chef!" Kid replied.

"Don't worry, we'll get your stupid little wife back for you," Kevin groaned. "And hopefully when we do, you'll take her back to Muscle Planet with you, doing the Earth a favour by removing two of its biggest idiots."

"Hey!" Kid snapped.

"Do you want to fight about it?" Kevin asked, clenching a fist in the air between them.

"No!" Kid squeaked, leaping behind Checkmate for protection.

"Alright then!"

Kevin tugged at the navy-blue jacket he was wearing, shivering involuntarily as the material scraped against his body, giving the distinct impression that it had just removed the top layer of his skin from his chest and shoulders. Kevin stiffened, his eyes twitching beneath his mask before he finally gave in to the urge and began to scratch at his chest and arms.

"Bloody Kinnikus!" he cursed.

"I miss Roxanne!" Kid whimpered.

"Yeah, Kid, I miss Trixie too," Terry said with a sigh.

"Not as much as I miss Kiki…" Mars muttered.

"I finally got a girlfriend, and now she's gone!" Jaeger wailed.

"Oh for heaven's sake, this is just pathetic!" Kevin snarled, before marching out of the room.

The others all watched him go before Kid turned to Mars.

"Something we said?" Kid asked.

"I dunno," Mars replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess he's just upset about what Eddie's done."

"He probably misses the girls, too," Terry added.

Kevin, meanwhile, was still marching along the corridors of the spaceship with dogged determination. He was hoping to put as much distance as was humanly possible between himself and the others until they landed back on Earth, and he was forced to mingle with them all once more.

"No, please, you don't understand!"

Kevin skidded to a halt, his Kinniku Royal Guard boots squeaking against the steel grid flooring of the corridor.

"I can't!" he heard Amy's voice plead. "Please don't make me do it! Please, I beg of you!"

"I think you must," a male voice replied. "Once we land on Earth, we will need to refuel before we can make the return journey to Muscle Planet, remember."

"So? It won't take more than a few hours to refuel!" Amy argued back.

Kevin quietly crept forwards, peering around the corner of a doorway into a small room off of the main corridor.

"It will take about six hours to refuel, and then a further twenty hours to get back to Muscle Planet! Add to that the time it will take for us to get to Earth now…" the Kinniku soldier inside the room said.

"But it's not that bad!" Amy argued, holding up her right hand and turning it over in midair to inspect both sides.

"It still requires medical attention!" the Kinniku soldier argued.

Amy sighed, slouching forwards. She too had changed into a uniform of the Kinniku Royal Guard, and her long hair was still loose. As she slouched over, her hair slipped over her shoulders, falling over the sides of her face. Kevin sighed as he watched her, almost instantly frowning at himself questioningly for performing such an action.

"I don't even know where the nearest hospital to the landing site is!" Amy said weakly. "It could take me hours to get there!"

"We will arrange for someone to take you there and back," the soldier assured her.

"I don't want to leave the ship!" Amy argued, her head lifting. "I just want to go back to my kitchen! Please!"

"If I have to take you there myself, you will go to a hospital," the soldier said firmly.

"Alright, but someone must come with me," Amy reluctantly agreed. "I really don't want to have to stay on Earth any longer than need be!"

"Of course."

Kevin slipped back from the doorway, leaning his back against the wall. He remained that way until he heard the soldier marching towards the door, whereupon he hurriedly turned back, heading back up to the bridge.

As he made his way back, Kevin could not help but draw comparisons in his mind to the times he had spent in the DMP with Mars, Edward and Amy. After leaving the DMP Headquarters with Pumpinator and Dial Bolic, Kevin had never really expected to see either Edward or Amy ever again, least of all Amy; and yet he found himself once more unable to avoid her at every turn. Just like how she had appeared in the most unlikely of places and they had met under the most unlikely of circumstances during his stay at the DMP Headquarters, Kevin was once again running into Amy repeatedly and illogically.

As he mused over that thought in his mind, Kevin realised that there was a word to describe his situation; only he could not quite remember just what it was.

Kevin rejoined the others, taking a seat next to Mars. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mars turn towards him, eying him over suspiciously.

"What's up wid you?" Mars asked him, after a short pause.

"Nothing. I'm just anxious to get home," Kevin lied.

"Liar…" Mars growled in a low voice, his eyes narrowing.

Kevin turned to face Mars, surprised to see that Mars truly was studying him intently, and seemed to be genuinely offended by Kevin's response to his question.

"Why have ya got a big smirk on your face?" Mars asked.

Kevin instinctively reached a hand up to his mouth, his fingertips stubbing against the exterior of his iron mask.

"How can you possibly see whether or not I'm smiling?" he asked Mars as he lowered his hand to his side.

"I ain't stupid, Kev," Mars plainly replied.

Kevin stared back blankly at Mars, his blood running cold through his veins as Mars's scowl slowly lightened, a knowing smile spreading across his features.

"Oh I see!" Mars said quietly, nodding his head.

"Well I don't," Kevin flatly replied. "Perhaps you would care to enlighten me?"

"You're happy about da girl, huh?" Mars asked, his smile widening.

Kevin hoped that Mars had not actually developed some sort of method for seeing through his mask, as the colour drained from his face upon Mars's question, and that was something he really did not need Mars seeing right then.

"Hey, if we do good in dis tournament, I bet she'll be all over you!" Mars added, nudging Kevin's arm with his elbow. "She was screamin' for you when you beat me in da Chojin Crown!"

Kevin laughed nervously.

"Say, you want me to maybe put in a good word for you, pal?" Mars asked him.

"No!" Kevin yelped. "Please, no! I mean… Well, no. No thank you."

"Are you sure?" Mars pressed.

"Absolutely!" Kevin confirmed.

Mars shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Heh, I guess she likes you so much already, you don't really need my help no more, right?" he sighed. "I mean, she ain't as pretty as Trixie, but she's alright for a guy like you, I guess."

"Not as pretty as Trixie?" Kevin repeated slowly. "What does Trixie have to do with any of this?"

"Well, she is Trixie's sister, yeah?" Mars responded. "Remember I said Trixie's sister wanted you? And now dat's why you're smilin', right? Cause you changed your mind? You wanna hook up wid Trixie's sister?"

"Trixie's sister?" Kevin spat.

"Yeah!" Mars replied, eying Kevin as though he had lost his mind.

"I'm not interested in anyone's sister!" Kevin shortly replied.

"Ah, too bad. Never mind, we'll be landin' soon. Hey, did you hear about dat horse-faced girl? Meat said someone's gotta take her to a vet when we land."

"Mars, she does not look like a horse."

"She does too."

"She does not!"

"She does too! She's always flarin' her nostrils at me, and slittin' her eyes…"

Mars shivered in disgust.

"At least she can cook," he conceded. "And at least she won't be stayin' on Earth for too long."

Kevin nodded his head, a smile creeping onto his face beneath his mask. Although he was not entirely sure why, he was inwardly quite glad that Amy would not be going immediately back to Muscle Planet.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Back on Earth, The Anarchists make their presence felt when leader of The Anarchists Edward Mask commandeers a news station to announce their plans to the world. **Chapter 3 – Revolting Chojins**.

**A/N(2):** For anyone who may not have gotten the earlier reference, Merrylegs was the scruffy little pony from Black Beauty.


	3. Revolting Chojins

**A/N:** Fast updates because there were 6½ chapters already written, and since I am writing again, now there are even more. This one is short (by my standards).

**Recap:** The Muscle League headed back to Earth to confront The Anarchists with Amy in tow.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Revolting Chojins**

"Ta-da!" Meat said, smiling brightly up at the eight Chojins around him. "What do ya think, huh?"

Kid Muscle scratched his head, slowly looking around himself.

"But this is just our old hut!" he eventually said.

"We can't hold top secret debriefing sessions in a wooden hut in the middle of a sand pit in a children's playpark!" Dik Dik added.

"You're not seein' the bigger picture!" Meat retaliated.

"Of course we're not!" Kid drawled. "Check out the size of that TV! It's tiny!"

"Hey, we always managed in here before, Kid!" Meat yelled, waving a fist at Kid threateningly. "Now everybody sit down and shut-up! And someone close the door!"

The others quietly and reluctantly obeyed Meat's orders, sitting down onto the beanbags or the bare floor, positioning themselves around the small television set.

"Now pay close attention, guys!" Meat said, before switching on the television.

Mars and Kevin began to snigger from their positions at the back of the hut as the opening sequences of _Swedish Legends in Blackcurrant Jam_ began to play in front of them.

"What the hell is this?" Meat muttered, frowning at the screen curiously.

"Never mind!" Jaeger yelped, leaping forwards and pressing the "stop" button on the DVD player.

A female newsreader replaced the images of a jam factory on the television screen, and she appeared to be talking about a train crash somewhere at first.

"And again, tonight's main headlines," she said.

"Here we go guys, pay attention!" Meat announced.

"Tonight's main headline is that the DMP, the league of Devil Chojins, has returned," she said. "A band of eight Devil Chojins, calling themselves "The Anarchists", made their presence felt outside of the IWF Headquarters earlier today. Although no more has been seen or heard from The Anarchists since that time, the world is asking just where are the Muscle League in this, our time of need?"

"That's a bloody good question!"

The woman at the news-desk screamed out in fright as Edward Mask walked up to her, still dressed in his jeans and torn DMP T-shirt. Meat and the eight Muscle Leaguers all sat forwards, watching on intently. Even Kevin Mask was unable to hide his intrigue; it appeared that his scrawny younger brother had not only grown in height, but also in build. The T-shirt he wore was stretched tightly across his broad chest, and with the sleeves torn off, it was clear to all that Edward had been training hard, earning himself a set of biceps that rivalled Dik Dik's in size.

Although Edward was still not as muscular or as powerful as Kevin Mask or Mars, Kevin still felt an ominous sense of foreboding creep up inside him as he watched his brother tower over the cowering woman sat behind the news-desk.

"Excuse me," Edward said, before tipping her out of her seat and sitting down into it himself. "And don't even think about taking me off air!" he yelled at someone beyond the camera. "Right then, I know that this is live, and I know that the Muscle League are back on Earth. Wherever you are, Muscle League, pay close attention to me now. This may seem to you like just another run-of-the-mill battle with the DMP, but don't be so easily fooled. We are not here to do battle, we are here to go to war!"

Edward thumped a fist onto the news desk, sending sheets of paper flying.

"If you ever want to see your miserable little girlfriends again, you will do as we demand!" Edward continued. "There will be a tournament, with you, the Muscle Leaguers, against us, The Anarchists!"

"I bloody knew it," Kevin grumbled, folding his arms. "Another stupid tournament…"

"As we have four hostages," Edward said, holding up four fingers at the camera. "There will be four matches. Four tag team matches to decide the fate of the four little bitches! So if you think you're tough enough to fight The Anarchists, meet us at the IWF studios tomorrow at noon!"

Edward stood up abruptly, grabbing the desk in front of him shoving it over.

"And don't forget, we are The Anarchists, and we are revolting!" he added, before marching off camera.

"We all knew he was revolting, the dude totally stinks," Kid muttered.

"Revolting, you idiot!" Kevin snapped, slapping Kid over the back of the head.

"Ow!" Kid moaned, rubbing his head. "And I still don't get it!"

"He means he's revoltin' against authority," Terry explained. "Sorta like they're rebellin' against us Muscle Leaguers, y'know? Of course, revoltin' also means disgustin', but I reckon he don't realise that."

"He's nothing but a bloody idiot!" Kevin cursed, standing up. "He always was stupid!"

"Stupid or not, the fact remains that we gotta fight this guy!" Meat said, smacking a fist into his open palm. "So before we go to the studio tomorrow, we got time to get some practisin' done!"

"What?" Kid echoed. "But this is meant to be my honeymoon this week! I just got married like yesterday!"

Meat narrowed his eyes at Kid, before slowly crossing the room to where his trusty broom still stood. Kid quickly scrambled up to his feet, followed closely by the others. All eight Chojins left the hut, walking out onto the sand pit.

"C'mon guys, what ya waitin' for?" Meat asked. "Let's go down to HQ and train there!"

"Aw man!" Kid groaned.

"I think that sounds like a good idea," Kevin said. "Let's go."

"What?" Kid and Mars said in unison, eying Kevin suspiciously.

"Hey, you heard Kevin Mask!" Meat shouted at the others. "He said let's go, and he's the new leader of the Muscle League, so do what he says!"

The others groaned and grumbled, following after Kevin as he strode briskly out of the park. Mars lagged behind the others, watching Kevin with a frown. Although it was uncharacteristic for Kevin Mask to do so, Mars could have sworn that Kevin was almost skipping with every step he took.

* * *

"Ah there you all are!" Ikeman said, grinning at the Muscle League Chojins as they entered the arena. "So glad you could all make it along!"

"Cut the crap, McMadd!" Kevin silenced him.

Edging closer to the chairman, Kevin posed his next question in a much quieter tone.

"What happened to the Kinniku spaceship that we arrived in?"

"It's gone," Ikeman quietly replied, eying Kevin as though he had gone insane.

"I can see that!" Kevin hissed. "Where? Where has it gone? It had to refuel, yes?"

"Yes," Ikeman slowly replied, nodding his head. "Father and I arranged for the refuelling to take place immediately, the ship took off for Muscle Planet about ten minutes ago."

"What?" Kevin roared.

Silence fell over the arena as all eyes turned to Kevin. Kevin glanced around the others nervously, before returning his attention to Ikeman.

"Gone?" he whispered. "Already? I thought refuelling took several hours?"

"Yes," Ikeman nervously replied. "But we hurried the process along–"

"Why?" Kevin demanded, his voice rising again.

"Because the passengers onboard had to get back to their duties on Muscle Planet!" Ikeman explained. "Why, is there some sort of problem?"

"No, no problem…" Kevin grumbled.

Kevin turned towards the ring, eying over his seven team-mates, who were all loitering around the ringside area.

"What are you lot standing around there for?" he demanded. "One of you get your arse into the ring so that I beat some sense into you!"

Kevin tore off his long coat, marching up to the ring and sliding under the bottom rope. He leapt to his feet, standing in the middle of the ring, his fists raised expectantly.

"Come on!" he challenged. "Who's got the guts to fight me, eh?"

The others looked around each other nervously. Kid Muscle smirked to himself, jabbing a finger into Wally's back, causing him to stumble forwards.

"You!" Kevin barked, pointing a finger at Wally. "Tusket! Get up here and fight me!"

Wally looked over his shoulder at Kid, his eyes wide with fear.

"Go on, Wally!" Kid said. "The new leader of the Muscle League is calling you!"

Wally sighed, climbing up the steps to the ring. Kevin watched Wally slowly climb into the ring and walk across the mat to stand in front of him.

"Someone ring the bell!" Kevin yelled, looking out towards the vacant official's desk.

As Meat made his way over to the desk to ring the bell, Kevin's eyes wandered from the desk to the entrance aisle, his eyes narrowing into a squint as he caught sight of someone running down the aisle towards the ring.

"Kid!"

Kevin numbed at the sound of the voice, watching dumbly as the woman running down the aisle began to wave one arm above her head.

"Amy?" he muttered.

The ring bell rang and Wally promptly kicked the distracted Kevin in the face, the heel of Wally's foot striking the underside of Kevin's chin, the one part of his face not protected by his iron mask. Kevin let out a groan, staggering back into the ropes.

"Kid!" he heard Amy call again.

Shaking his head to shake himself off, Kevin stepped away from the ropes, watching as Amy jogged over to Kid Muscle, where she began to talk to him about something, her voice sufficiently hushed to obscure her words from Kevin's ears. Kevin instinctively started towards the other side of the ring to get closer to her, but his progress was brought to an abrupt halt as Wally speared him, knocking him down onto his back with another groan.

"Geddoff me!" Kevin growled, grabbing Wally's shoulders and shoving him aside.

Kevin sat up, pausing as he saw Amy touch a hand to Kid's shoulder, smiling up at him as she told him something. His interest peaked at her actions, Kevin started to stand up again.

"Hey, this is fun!" Wally said, before drop-kicking Kevin to the mat again.

"Kev, what da hell is wrong wid you!" Mars yelled, slapping a hand off the mat. "Are you gonna let a loser like dat beat you up?"

Kevin crawled around on the mat, looking beyond Mars at Kid and Amy. Kid was pointing towards the ring, and Amy was looking directly at Kevin, her brow furrowed into a frown. A cold rush of adrenalin spread through Kevin, and he leapt to his feet, blocking Wally's attempt at another kick to the chin. Kevin grabbed Wally up, pulling him into the Tower Bridge.

"Atta boy Kev, show him who's boss!" Mars cheered.

As Kevin tightened his hold of Wally, his eyes remained fixed on Amy. He saw her roll her eyes at him and shake her head before turning back to Kid Muscle, her face brightening into another smile as she met his eyes. She began to talk with Kid again, smiling and nodding her head as they spoke. Kevin growled to himself, his body buzzing with adrenalin.

"Uh Kev?" Mars began nervously. "Remember Tusket's on our side, yeah? You don't wanna go injure him before da tournament, do ya?"

Kevin finally looked away from Amy, looking down at Mars, who was standing on the floor, his body pressed against the ring apron, frowning up at Kevin. Kevin frowned, briefly wondering why Mars looked such an unusually golden colour.

"Knock it off, asshole!" Terry Kenyon yelled, kicking Kevin in the ribs.

Kevin instantly released Wally, doubling over with a gasp of pain. Terry had inadvertently kicked his heel into the old wound Kevin had sustained during his match against Mars in the finals of the Chojin Crown, causing Kevin far more pain than such a move normally would have.

"Bastard…" he groaned.

Mars quickly leapt up into the ring, standing over Terry.

"You remember what I did to you in da Generation Ex Tournament, Kenyon?" he growled.

"How could I forget?" Terry yelled back at him.

"Well if you don't want me to do it again, you better move your ass," Mars warned him.

Terry moved over to where Wally lay, helping his friend out of the ring as Mars approached Kevin.

"Hey Kev," Mars whispered, bending over to move his head closer to Kevin's. "What's wrong wid you? I know you're pissed about Eddie, but you gotta control your temper!"

"Woman…" Kevin gasped.

"Huh?" Mars echoed.

"That woman…" Kevin groaned, straightening.

Mars straightened with him, frowning at him as he waited for Kevin to finish.

"What is that woman doing here?" Kevin asked, pointing over Mars's shoulder at Amy. "McMadd said that she was on her way back to Muscle Planet!"

Mars turned around, looking about for a moment before turning back to Kevin with a grin on his face.

"Funny story dere, Kev," he began.

"Oh God, what now?" Kevin groaned.

"See, apparently, she missed da flight back."

"And how exactly did that happen?"

"Well, she had to go to da vet because she was hurt, and den da Kinnikus flew off before she got back. I guess dey was just glad to be shot of her. But on da bright side Kev, she's here now and she's free, and didn't you say you wanted her to work for us at da Mask Estate?"

Kevin turned his head back towards Amy, watching as she flashed yet another smile at Kid, running her fingers through her hair. Kevin felt another rush of adrenaline push up through his chest, starting in alarm as it began to spread downwards, ending in his thighs.

"No," he said firmly, turning back to Mars. "She absolutely has to go. Right now."

Mars looked over his shoulder at Amy again, slowly nodding his head.

"Yeah, you're right, Kev," he agreed. "We couldn't take her back to da Mask Estate, Kiki would never understand,"

"Kiki?" Kevin echoed. "What the hell does any of this have to do with that saucy little mare?"

"Hey, Kiki ain't no mare!" Mars snapped. "Da only horse around here is dat one behind me dressed in da Kinniku Royal Guard uniform! And alls I meant was dat, y'know, dat chick really digs me, and I think Kiki would just get jealous if we took her home wid us."

"Does your vanity know no bounds, Mars?" Kevin asked his friend dryly.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Your turn."

Kevin walked over to the ropes, stepping through them and dropping down to the floor below. Jaeger climbed up behind him, taking his place in the ring to tackle Mars in a practise match. Kevin, meanwhile, made his way over to Kid and Amy, who had both sat down in the front row of seats behind the steel railings. As he neared them he slowed, watching intently as Amy smoothed her hands over her head, lifting her hair up over the back of her chair. Oblivious to Kevin's presence, she tilted her head back, her throat arching outwards as she released her hair, allowing it to hang loosely over the back of her chair.

"Must you expose your neck like that, you brazen little hussy?" Kevin growled at her.

Amy promptly brought her chin down, frowning up at Kevin.

"Come again?" she echoed.

"Ugh!" Kevin snorted, waving a hand at her dismissively.

Amy's eyes widened as she watched Kevin march off down the aisle in the direction of the backstage area.

"What's his problem?" she asked, turning to Kid.

"He can't keep it up," Kid replied, giggling to himself.

"Oh…" Amy said, nodding her head slowly.

Kevin continued to march through the backstage area, heading for the showers. Again he found his mind leaping around, his concentration at an all-time low. He hoped that he would somehow be able to stabilise his thoughts if he could just forget about Edward and the pending tournament.

As he neared the showers, Kevin began roughly removing his clothing, tossing aside his garments as he went. He stepped up into the shower, switching on the flow of water. Before stepping under the water, Kevin removed his mask, throwing it out of the cubicle. Kevin paused before returning to the shower, his eyes slowly wandering downwards over his naked form.

"Oh crap…" he grumbled, rolling his eyes.

With a deep sigh of despair, Kevin reached a hand over to the thermostat on the shower, turning it down as low as it would go, causing the jet of water to turn bitterly cold.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The IWF and the Muscle League reluctantly give in to Edward's demands, and announce a tournament pitting the DMP against the Muscle League. With The Anarchists already divided up into four tag teams, the Muscle League must pair themselves off. **Chapter 4 – Bad Blood Tournament**. 


	4. Bad Blood Tournament

**Recap:** Edward Mask demanded that the Muscle League go to the IWF studios, and the Muscle League began training in preparation for the inevitable fight ahead of them.

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Bad Blood Tournament**

Kevin Mask walked into Kid Muscle's dressing room, stopping abruptly as Kid turned the magazine he was reading around, the centre pages unfolding over his legs. Kid let out a simpering giggle of delight as he looked down at the picture within, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Still missing your wife I see Kid Muscle?" Kevin sneered.

"Whoa, Kevin!" Kid gasped. "You gave me a scare dude, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"We are on air in less than five minutes, we should be talking strategy, not fawning over bloody pornographic magazines!" Kevin snapped irritably.

"Hey, just because your family are screwed up, doesn't mean you have to take it out on me!" Kid retorted, before returning his attention to the centrefold in his hands.

"Gimme that, you fool!" Kevin growled, snatching the magazine from Kid's hands.

"Hey!" Kid yelped.

Kid watched on with large hurt eyes as Kevin tore the magazine to shreds, throwing the pieces up into the air.

"This is very serious, Kid Muscle!" he said, waggling a finger at Kid.

"What, fighting your baby brother?" Kid echoed. "But he's your brother! And besides, Mars said that he's a total pushover."

"Don't be so foolish as to underestimate Edward or any of his allies!" Kevin warned. "We still don't know who or what is beneath those robes! Only a complete idiot would make the fundamental error of underestimating his own enemies!"

"Hey guys, guess what?" Mars whispered, leaping into the room, his eyes darting back and forth between Kid and Kevin.

"This had better be something very important and something very substantial, Mars," Kevin warned him.

"Oh ma Lord, you was right, Mars!" Terry gasped, hurrying into the room.

"Yeah, it's crazy, huh?" Mars said, turning to Terry.

"My God, I don't believe it!" Dik Dik declared, pushing his way into the room. "You were right about her legs, Mars!"

"Yeah, I know!" Mars agreed.

"I vant to be in ze match vith ze pretty girl!" Jaeger said loudly, shoving his way into the dressing room, which was – by that point – almost full to capacity with bodies.

"What the bloody hell are you all talking about?" Kevin yelled.

"He doesn't know?" Dik Dik asked Mars.

Mars shook his head, grinning slyly.

"I don't know what, exactly?" Kevin asked, planting his hands on his hips as his patience began to rapidly wear thinner.

"One of da guys wid Eddie is a girl," Mars explained. "She was wid him when I went back to da DMP after da Generation Ex Tournament, but she didn't do too much back den. She's pretty hot, Kev!"

"A woman?" Kevin echoed. "A female Chojin?"

"A girl?" Kid squealed, leaping to his feet. "I wanna be in the match with her!"

"I asked first!" Jaeger argued.

"Hey, it's up to da leader of da Muscle League who gets to pin da broad to da mat!" Mars yelled over the others. "And I say it's gonna be me!"

"But you're not the leader of the DMP, Mars, Kevin Mask is," Dik Dik pointed out.

The others all turned to Kevin, who groaned in despair.

"You guys, come on!" Wally called in to the room. "We're being called out!"

Mars, Kid, Dik Dik, Jaeger and Terry all fought to leave the dressing room first, squeezing themselves through the doorway in their haste to leave. Kevin waited for them to leave the room before making his own way out, shaking his head to himself as he heard their thundering footsteps running along the corridor towards the stage.

As Kevin made his own way towards the stage, striding along at a brisk pace he quickly caught up with Checkmate and Wally, falling into step with them and walking on with them in silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome on stage the Muscle League!" Ikeman said into the microphone.

As the audience began to applaud and cheer on the entry of their heroes, Ikeman called out the Muscle Leaguers one-by-one.

"Wally Tusket!" he began. "Dik Dik Van Dik! Terry Kenyon! Checkmate! Jaeger! Kid Muscle! Mars! And Kevin Mask!"

Meat made his way, unannounced, onto the stage behind Kevin. All eight Justice Chojins made their way to one side of the stage, where the IWF had set up two rows of four white chairs, all facing across the stage towards two rows of four black chairs. Once the Muscle League had sat down, Ikeman paused until the audience had fallen silent again before continuing.

"And, here today to negotiate with the Muscle League, the DMP's very own brand new faction, The Anarchists!" he announced, holding out a hand as Edward made his way onto the stage, followed by seven figures, all of whom were still enshrouded in black robes.

The audience booed and hissed at Edward, but he remained unfazed by the whole affair, taking a seat in the front row of black chairs, waiting patiently for his cohorts to sit around him.

"We at the IWF would like to take this opportunity," Ikeman began, turning to Edward as he spoke. "To welcome The Anarchists to–"

Edward stood abruptly, snatching the microphone from Ikeman and shoving the chairman off the edge of the stage. He lifted the microphone to his mouth, pausing in alarm as a small cheer arose from the audience in response to his treatment of the still unpopular IWF Chairman.

"Enough of this crap!" he barked into the microphone. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?"

Edward turned his head towards the back of the stage, narrowing his eyes impatiently.

"Bring out the tournament board!" he yelled.

A stagehand obediently pulled open the curtain that concealed a blank tournament layout diagram.

"Now pay close attention, because I'm only going to say this once," Edward began, marching over to the board. "In our possession, we currently have…"

Edward walked over to one side of the board, grabbing up four magnetic tiles from a box.

"The beauty queen," he said, throwing one of the tiles up onto the diagram above the first four tournament slots.

Terry gasped as he saw that the tile was in fact a picture of Trixie's face.

"The chairman's sister," Edward continued, throwing up a tile that held a picture of Jacqueline's face. "The princess," he sighed, throwing up a tile of Roxanne's face. "And the girl next door."

Edward threw up the last tile, which depicted Kiki's face.

"And whilst none of these miserable females mean anything to any of us, we all know just how much they mean to all of you," Edward said, turning back to face the Muscle League. "We have already taken the liberty of dividing ourselves into four tag teams, and each team has chosen a… "Girl" to keep as their prisoner. In order to free any of those four girls, you will have to beat the team that guards the girl. If you fail to defeat any one team, the girl that you were fighting for becomes our prisoner… For all eternity!"

Edward let out a maniacal laugh, at which Mars rose to his feet. Kevin stood up at Mars's side, grabbing his friend's shoulders.

"Let it go," Kevin whispered. "You can take it out on him in the ring."

Kevin sat back down, pulling Mars down with him.

"Now then…" Edward said with a sigh, walking over to the other side of the tournament board, to a second box.

Edward gathered up a handful of smaller magnetic tiles, and, as though on cue, his seven friends all stood from their seats. The Muscle Leaguers looked around each other anxiously as each wondered if they should do the same; but Meat quickly shook his head at them all, warning them to remain seated for the time being.

"To free the girl next door," Edward said, pointing up at Kiki's face. "Two of you will have to face the team of me, Edward Mask, and Anarchist F."

Edward slapped a tile with a picture of himself onto one of the tournament slots, and as he slapped down a second tile next to the image of his own face, one of the robed Devil Chojins tore off his robe, revealing his true form. The audience gasped in shock at what they saw, and as they fell silent, Jaeger yelped out. The other Muscle Leaguers turned to Jaeger questioningly at his apparent delayed reaction, all nodding their understand when they saw that Jaeger's yelp had been brought about by Kid Muscle wetting himself in his seat immediately next to Jaeger.

"IWF fans, Muscle Losers," Edward said, holding a hand out towards his team-mate. "Say hello to Fargo."

Fargo, who was easily over eight feet tall, was a humanoid wild cat, his body covered in silver-blue fur. Other than a standard DMP T-shirt, he wore nothing else, proudly showing off his lean and imposing physique. He sniffed at the air, before narrowing his golden eyes at Kid Muscle and letting out a low growl.

"Hey, check that out, he can smell fear!" Kid whispered to the others.

"He can't smell fear," Mars dryly replied. "But he sure can smell piss…"

Kid giggled nervously, crossing his legs in an attempt to hide the evidence of his fear-induced incontinence.

"Are you gonna do dat every time someone takes off a robe?" Mars asked Kid. "Cause nobody really wants you pissin' on us all six more times, yeah?"

"I don't need to go any more," Kid dumbly replied. "I don't think I'll do it again."

Mars began to grumble curses under his breath but Kevin nudged him in the ribs, casting him a warning glance that was enough to silence him.

"To free the beauty queen," Edward continued, as Fargo sat down hard into his seat, folding his arms across his chest and glowering across the stage at the Muscle League. "Two of you Muscle Losers will have to face the team of Anarchist M and Anarchist W."

Edward slapped up two more tiles underneath Trixie's face, at which point two more of his team removed their robes, one after the other. Kid gasped at the first one, grinning at Mars as he caught him staring at him threateningly. However, when the second Devil Chojin removed his robe Kid screamed out and wet himself again.

"Get him outta here before I kill him!" Mars roared, standing abruptly.

"Still as hot-tempered as ever, scarface," Edward muttered.

Mars swivelled on the spot, fixing his eyes onto Edward angrily.

"Or perhaps I should say, still as passionate as ever?" Edward sneered.

Mars started to march towards Edward, but Kevin Mask, Checkmate and Jaeger hurriedly ran after him, grabbing his arms and pulling him back before he could reach Edward. As Checkmate and Jaeger dragged Mars back to his seat, Kevin turned to face his brother, eying him over contemptuously.

"Just get on with it," he warned.

Edward sarcastically saluted his older brother, who merely ignored his gesture, returning to his own seat.

"Try to keep it in next time, huh?" Mars growled at Kid Muscle.

"But look at it!" Kid wailed, pointing at the Devil Chojin who had frightened him so.

"Yeah, I know," Mars sighed. "I've kinda met da guy before, y'know?"

Kevin narrowed his eyes sceptically across the stage at the remaining members of the DMP. The two Anarchists guarding Trixie made a team similar to the one guarding Kiki; one was human, and the other was a humanoid animal. The human was called Master DJ, and Kevin clearly remembered him from his own days at the DMP. Together with Fargo, he had been part of Edward's original threesome who went by the name of The Anarchists. On the outside, he looked like nothing more than a lanky teenage boy in baggy clothing with big hair; but Kevin knew that Master DJ possessed an unpredictable and deadly array of fighting skills that should not, under any circumstances, be written off as a weak opponent or unworthy challenger.

"Say hello to Master DJ, and Wolfang," Edward announced.

Wolfang let out a feral snarl, dropping down onto all fours, an action that caused Kid to whimper in fear, earning him another glower of hatred from Mars. Wolfang was similar to Fargo, only he was a humanoid grey wolf, as opposed to a cat. Unlike Fargo, however, he was more like an animal than a human, to the point that Kevin could not help but wonder it he was just some unusual new breed of canine. He looked more natural and far more at ease when stood on all fours, his spine more pronounced thanks to the ridge of darker fur that grew upwards from it, much like that of a hyena's. Unlike the others, Wolfang was not wearing a DMP T-shirt.

"I reckon Fargo and Wolfang was the ones who had the girls at Kid's weddin'," Terry whispered. "Look at their claws!"

Kid yelped again as he followed Terry's advice, finding that both Fargo and Wolfang owned an impressive set of claws on all four of their paws. Master DJ sat back down and Wolfang crawled back into his own seat, leaving just four unknown Anarchists standing.

"To free the princess," Edward continued. "Two of you will have to face the team of Anarchist D and Anarchist S."

As Edward placed down two more tiles, Mars suddenly found his smile again.

"Look alive, boys, Anarchist S is da chick!" he said.

Kid Muscle, Terry Kenyon, Jaeger and Dik Dik Van Dik all sat forwards eagerly in their chairs as they awaited the revealing of Anarchist S. Anarchist D was the first to remove his robe, his appearance making every member of the Muscle League bar Mars gasp in shock.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Death Angel and Sprite," Edward said.

"D-death Angel?" Dik Dik stammered nervously.

Death Angel stood perfectly still, his bulky, dark grey body casting a sizeable shadow across the stage that seemed to make the air around it cold and still. None of those watching could quite be sure if the skull-like face mounted into his hooded dark bodysuit was a mask or his real face. Various parts of his body not covered by his suit were visible, and all were covered with bandages that would not look out of place on a mummified corpse. Like Edward, Fargo and Master DJ, he also wore a DMP T-shirt, which many in attendance were glad of, as it hid most of his fearsomely bulky upper body from view.

"Wait for it boys, here comes da cutie!" Mars whispered.

Sprite, who was considerably smaller than all the other Devil Chojins, took a step forwards, whipping off the black robe. Mars, Kid Muscle, Jaeger, Terry Kenyon and Dik Dik Van Dik all stiffened in their seats, their jaws slowly falling open. Kevin snorted as he tried his best to contain his laughter. Wally Tusket tilted his head over to one side and then the other, before a deep frown furrowed his brow.

"I say Mars, that is a very odd-looking woman, is it not?" Checkmate said, leaning over to address Mars.

"That ain't no woman!" Terry wailed. "That there's a man!"

"A-are you sure?" Kid whispered. "Because I still think she's kinda hot."

"Zhat isn't a voman!" Jaeger cried.

"But it must be a woman," Dik Dik muttered. "It's a fairy, right? And all fairies are girls, right?"

"Nah, there's gotta be some boy fairies too, Dik Dik," Terry argued. "If there weren't any boy fairies, the fairies would all die out, right?"

"I coulda sworn dat she was a girl…" Mars mumbled, his face paling.

"Maybe we should just ask her if she's a boy or if she's a girl," Kid decided.

"I am not a girl, you fool!" Sprite snapped at Kid. "And I am not a fairy either, you stupid antelope!" he said to Dik Dik. "I am an elf!"

"An elf?" Kid echoed. "So… So does that make you a girl or a–"

"I'm a man, you ignorant arsehole!" Sprite yelled.

"I think she's having a period, or something," Kid whispered knowledgeably to his team-mates.

Sprite growled at Kid, his face reddening in anger.

"I'm sure it was an easy mistake for you all to make," Kevin said with a sigh. "After all, what a fantastic pair of legs he has…"

"I swear to God, if you ever repeat any part of dis to Kiki, I'ma kill you, Kevin Mask!" Mars snarled at Kevin.

Death Angel sat back down into his seat, leaving only Sprite and the two robed Anarchists standing. Sprite began to pace back and forth along the row of seats, eying the Muscle Leaguers angrily. Kevin again had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. In Mars's defence, he thought to himself, Sprite was very effeminate; but he was also very definitely not female. Small in stature and slight in build, Sprite had soft, silky blonde hair that hung just below his shoulders. In his angered state, he flicked a hand at his hair, the gesture that, along with his small, delicate hands, made him look a little more feminine still. His skin was very pale, as if he never ventured into sunlight, and he had thin, arched eyebrows, which looked as though they had been plucked to perfection. He had large, almond-shaped eyes and long, pale eyelashes that only added to his overall girlish appearance. He had very high, pronounced cheekbones, accented by his angular, pointed ears that poked out from beneath his hair at either side of his head, and he had an equally small and pointed nose. He had a strong, but small jawline, which came to a point at his chin, giving him the overall features of a cartoon pixie.

"Bastards," Sprite sighed, flopping down into his seat and tossing his chin up in the air in disgust.

"Can I continue?" Edward asked dryly.

"Oh please, don't mind me!" Sprite sneered. "What would I know anyway? This is all big boy talk, after all. Too much for a little girl like me!"

Sprite bared his teeth at the Muscle Leaguers, his face reddening again.

"Sprite," Edward began. "Are you–"

"I'm fine!" Sprite interrupted him. "Just fine."

"Okay…" Edward said slowly. "Anyway, last of all, to free the chairman's sister…"

Edward added two more tiles beneath the picture of Jacqueline.

"Two of you will have to defeat the team of Anarchist H and Anarchist R."

Kevin and Mars turned to each other, at which Mars shrugged to confirm that the remaining two were the newest additions to the team.

"No!" Jaeger yelled, grabbing his hands at his helmet in shock.

"Oh my…" Dik Dik muttered.

Kevin and Mars turned back sharply to see that Anarchist H and Anarchist R had both removed their robes, and both were looking equally as smug with the reaction that they had received from the six Muscle Leaguers who had been watching them during their reveal.

"Ah crap," Mars groaned.

"Somebody please tell this isn't actually happening!" Wally wailed.

"Tough luck, blubber-boy!" Edward shouted into the microphone upon hearing Wally's remark. "Ladies, gentlemen, superhuman wrestlers, say hello to the two newest members of the DMP, Anarchist Hydrazoa and Anarchist Road Rage!"

"I've beaten both those guys before!" Kid said smugly.

"Then perhaps you won't mind doing it again?" Kevin replied.

Kid's smile dropped from his face.

"Um…" he began nervously. "Didn't we say I get to fight the fairy?"

"I asked to fight ze fairy first!" Jaeger pointed out.

"I'll leave you boys to argue this one amongst yourselves," Edward said. "Our teams are on the board there, and, quite frankly, none of us really give a damn who we fight in the ring. Which is why we're leaving now. We'll be back in one week, when the first match will take place. We will announce locations of each match the day before it will take place. All that we do ask is that you fight us in order: beauty queen, chairman's sister, princess and girl next door. Until then, we bid you good day. Men?"

Six of The Anarchists rose from their seats following Edward as he exited the stage. Sprite however hung back, glowering at the Muscle League.

"Sprite?" Edward called back.

Sprite let out a growl of disgust, flicking his hair back off both shoulders and turning his nose up into the air as he strutted off after the others.

"Road Rage and Hydrazoa!" Jaeger cried once they had all gone.

"So what's the deal: is the fairy a girl?" Kid asked anyone who cared to listen.

"Why do we have to wait a whole week to get this thing started, huh?" Terry demanded.

"More importantly, why do we have to fight for Kiki last, huh?" Mars asked.

"Guys, come on, settle down!" Meat said, in an attempt to maintain some degree of order. "The most important thing to do right now is to sort ourselves out into teams."

"I wanna fight Eddie!" Mars yelled.

"I wanna fight Eddie!" Terry yelled back. "He kidnapped ma fiancé!"

"So Mars and Terry in one team?" Meat asked.

"I want a piece of that fairy bitch!" Dik Dik added. "She called me an antelope!"

"I wanna fight her too!" Kid said. "I mean, she was wearing a skirt just then, and maybe if we just looked up it, we could sort this out once and for all!"

"Dik Dik and Kid?" Meat said.

"Vait a minute, I asked to fight ze girl first!" Jaeger protested.

"And what about us?" Wally asked.

"I wanna fight Eddie, but I also wanna be the one who frees ma Trixie," Terry said. "So maybe I oughta be fightin' the first team."

"I'm fightin' for Kiki, and I'm fightin' Eddie," Mars replied. "And I got an old score to settle with Fargo too, so I'm fightin' last."

"So Terry and Mars won't be in the same team…" Meat said slowly.

"I vant to free Jack," Jaeger said thoughtfully. "And I vant to fight Road Rage and Hydrazoa, so zhat I can teach zhem a lesson for joining ze DMP!"

"Okay…" Meat said slowly.

"And I'm fighting the girl," Kid added. "And she's the one who's got Roxanne, so that works out okay."

"Wait just a damn minute!" Kevin yelled, standing up abruptly. "It's pretty obvious where this is going, and I'm not about to argue. Obviously four of you have already made up your minds which team you want to be on."

Kevin marched across the stage, his long coat billowing out behind him as he went.

"My little brother, being the complete and utter dork that he always was, has conveniently left tiles for us to fill the blanks with," he said, picking up the remaining tiles by the tournament board. "So in the first match, Terry Kenyon wants to fight for the blonde girl."

"Her name's Trixie, you asshole," Terry muttered as Kevin placed the tile with Terry's face on it beneath Trixie.

"And then in the next match, Jaeger said that he wants to free that awful McMadd woman, although God alone only knows why…" Kevin continued, slapping the Jaeger tile under Jacqueline.

"Hey!" Jaeger protested. "Jack is just misunderstood!"

Kevin snorted, shaking his head to himself.

"And in the third match," he said. "Kid Muscle wants to fight for his wife."

Kevin added Kid's tile beneath Roxanne.

"And finally Mars wants to fight for the little freckle-faced girl."

"Hey, watch it, Kev!" Mars snapped.

"Okay…" Kevin said slowly, standing back to inspect the tournament board. "Well, I know that I personally want to face my brother in the ring, if for no other reason than to prove to him why I have been more successful in my career than he has."

Kevin added his own tile next to Mars's, hesitating as he noticed that Edward had scrawled the word "wanker" across his forehead. Kevin groaned, shaking his head again.

"Does anyone else have any preferences?" he asked, turning around to face the remaining three unplaced Muscle Leaguers.

"Can I make some suggestions?" Mars asked.

"Well hey, you know these guys better'n any of us, Mars," Meat said. "It's probably best that you tell us who should do what."

"Okay, well I agree dat me and Kev fight Eddie and Fargo," Mars said. "Cause Fargo is da strongest Anarchist physically. After dat, da next strongest one is Death Angel, and our next biggest guy is Checkmate, so I reckon you gotta put Checkmate wid Kid Muscle against Death Angel and da girl."

"Right you are," Kevin said, adding Checkmate's tile next to Kid's.

"Now da weakest team up dere is da first one," Mars continued. "Master DJ is kinda like Kenyon here, here's more technical. Wolfang is just a heavyweight, so I guess our best match for him would be Wally Tusket, since he's top of da class for use of weight."

"So it's Wally and Terry in the first match," Kevin said, placing Wally with Terry. "Which just leaves Dik Dik Van Dik to go with Jaeger."

"Okay," Meat said, scanning over the board.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen!" Ikeman said, stepping back up onto the stage.

The others smirked at the sight of the chairman, whose wig had slipped as a result of his earlier fall which he had obviously failed to notice.

"In our first match we have Wally Tusket and Terry Kenyon taking on the team of Master DJ and Wolfang to free Trixie!" Ikeman continued. "And in the second match, we have Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger versus former Muscle League members Road Rage and Hydrazoa for Jacqueline! In the next match-up it's Kid Muscle and Checkmate facing off against Death Angel and Sprite for Roxanne! And in the final match, Mars and Kevin Mask will team up to take on Fargo and Edward Mask to free Kiki!"

The audience began to cheer, but the Muscle League themselves were less than amused.

"Y'know, I've gotta real bad feelin' about dis," Mars muttered, eying the tournament board.

"They knew exactly what they were doing," Kevin replied as he rejoined the group. "By pairing themselves off and assigning each team to a specific girl, they already knew who they would each be facing."

"Well, dey had to know dat I would fight for Kiki, Jaeger would fight for Jacqueline, Kenyon would fight for Trixie and Kid would fight for Roxanne, which really narrows down da possibilities."

"Exactly. And Edward knew that I would team with you in order to fight him."

"And he knew dat Jaeger would find it hard to fight his old classmates, so he deliberately put Road Rage and Hydrazoa in charge of Jacqueline."

Kevin nodded his head, eying over the tournament board again. Looking at it critically, he could see more problems than he dared to mention. He worried that everyone was underestimating Master DJ as a wrestler, and he suspected that the team of Master DJ and Wolfang was anything but weak; unlike the combination of Wally Tusket and Terry Kenyon. Wally had never won a significant match in his career, and Terry had only beaten Tyrannoclaw, which had been largely thanks to the help of Kid Muscle, who had exposed Tyrannoclaw's one major weakness for Terry to exploit to his advantage. The second match was even worse – and was perhaps the worst of all four. What sort of combination was Jaeger and Dik Dik Van Dik? The two had never truly seen eye-to-eye since the Generation Ex Tournament. And to put Jaeger against his former team-mates? Jaeger, much like Wally Tusket, had a soft side that threatened to be his downfall, and Kevin was certain that it would factor into his match against Road Rage and Hydrazoa. The third match also had potential for bickering; Kid and Checkmate may be friends now, but that had not always been the case. The team of Death Angel and Sprite made Kevin suspicious too: just what were those two capable of?

And finally, just how smoothly would things play out with himself, his younger brother Edward Mask, Mars and Fargo all in one ring? All four men had reason enough to resent each other for one reason or another, the only real solidity lying in the relationship between Edward and Fargo, who had practically grown up together; it was no small secret that Edward regarded Fargo as a substitute older brother.

And of course, emotions would be hyped to a fever pitch for Terry, Jaeger, Kid and Mars, all of who were angry and fighting for the ones they loved.

"Tickets for next week's match go on sale tomorrow, so hurry on down to avoid disappointment!" Ikeman announced. "And don't forget, discounts will be given to those who buy tickets to all four matches of the Bad Blood Tournament!"

"Bad Blood Tournament?" Mars repeated, frowning questioningly at the others.

"It says it up there," Dik Dik plainly replied. "Presumably that's what Edward named it."

The others turned to the tournament board itself, across the top of which the words "Bad Blood Tournament" were written in large, bold black letters.

"C'mon, guys, we only got one week!" Meat said decisively. "We gotta get trainin'!"

"I prefer to train alone," Kevin said.

"I reckon we all oughta train in our own teams," Terry suggested. "Ma daddy said he would help train me an' ma partner. What do ya say, Wally?"

"Sure, that sounds good to me!" Wally agreed.

"I'll train Kid and Checkmate!" Meat said, causing Kid to groan.

"Herr Broken alvays trains me," Jaeger said.

"Then I'll join up with you and Broken," Dik Dik said.

"I guess dat just leaves you an' me, Kev," Mars said, turning to Kevin.

"I already told you, I train alone," Kevin flatly replied.

"But dat ain't true, Kev," Mars pointed out. "You trained wid dat crazy android durin' da Chojin Crown, didn't ya?"

"That was different," Kevin coldly replied. "Lord Flash was… Well, I thought he was a true mentor, someone I could trust, confide in and learn from."

"And what, you can't trust me?" Mars asked.

Kevin snorted, eying Mars over.

"Hey, dat hurts!" Mars snapped.

"Hey Kevin, why don't you and Mars train with Robin Mask?" Kid offered. "Meat's gonna train us and come down to the ring with us on the day we fight, and Broken always goes with Jaeger, and Terry said his dad is gonna go with him. Robin Mask is a teacher at the Hercules Factory, and you've never even been there before, so I bet he could teach you some pretty cool stuff."

"I would rather shove blunt, rusted nine inch nails through both of my eyes than ask my father to train me and be my corner-man!" Kevin roared.

"You would?" Kid asked, eying Kevin as though he had gone mad. "Freak!"

"I told you all already, the only person I could ever really trust as a corner-man, trainer, manager and confidant was Lord Flash!"

Kevin began to frown as Kid Muscle suddenly broke into a huge grin.

"Something funny, Kid?" Kevin sneered.

"No…" Kid slowly replied. "I was just thinking about… Say Kevin, if Lord Flash came back, would you train with him?"

"Lord Flash can't come back, you contemptuous fool, he never really existed, remember?" Kevin snapped irritably.

"But what if he did come back?" Kid pressed. "What if he did really exist? What then?"

"Kid, knock it off, you ain't helpin' matters," Mars interrupted, pushing Kevin away from Kid. "You go train wid your little manager, Kev and I will train our own way."

"And my own way is on my own!" Kevin barked, tugging at his coat indignantly. "I'll see you all next week."

"Kev!" Mars called after Kevin as he walked away from the group.

The others watched in silence as Kevin leapt off the stage, pushing his way through the audience, sending security into a frenzy as they fought to control the tidal wave of screaming fangirls that charged towards him.

"He's so moody!" Kid grumbled once Kevin had disappeared from sight.

"Ah don't worry, he'll come round," Mars said confidently.

Kid grinned again, this time giggling to himself. Mars eyed the Kinniku prince over in disgust, before slowly making his way back across the stage towards the backstage area. The others followed his lead, all gradually filtering off of the stage until only Kid Muscle and Ikeman McMadd remained. Ikeman bowed to the audience, and Kid grabbed his ribs, laughing out loud.

"What's so funny?" Ikeman snapped at him.

"I just had such a cool idea!" Kid replied. "I'm gonna get Lord Flash to come back and train Kevin Mask!"

Ikeman screwed up his face at Kid, wondering if it was worth pointing out again to Kid that Lord Flash did not actually exist as such; but as Kid began to laugh again, tears streaming from his eyes with the force of his hysterics, Ikeman decided against it.

"Idiot…" Ikeman muttered, turning his back on Kid and walking off the stage, leaving Kid behind to laugh like a fool at nothing.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The Muscle Leaguers begin intense training programs for the trial that lies ahead of them, training in their teams. Meat coaches the team of Kid Muscle and Checkmate, Broken Junior coaches Jaeger and Dik Dik Van Dik, Terryman coaches his son Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket, and the team of Kevin Mask and Mars are coached by… Lord Flash?! **Chapter 5 – Mask Madness**.

**A/N:** Just a quick explanation about The Anarchists:  
Edward Mask: Based on the UM Manga concept that Kevin Mask was "Robin Mask's eldest son"  
Fargo: Fargo is actually a bad guy from one of my own original novels with a few amendments to make him fit into the world of Ultimate Muscle  
Master DJ: An idea Yudetamago never used for a DMP Chojin  
Death Angel: Same as Master DJ  
Wolfang: Same as Fargo, only he had a different name in my own novel  
Sprite: Originally based on Legolas, but includes a touch of Link, including my perceptions of Link – cool guy, but dude looks like a lady…


	5. Mask Madness

**A/N:** Kid Muscle graduated from the Hercules Factory in 2008 (approximately) according to the manga. And again, more apologies for the mary-sueism of this fic. The lightness won't last much longer, this is going to be (ultimately) one of my darker fics.

**Recap:** Edward Mask introduced his team of Anarchists, who included former good guy Hercules Factory graduates Road Rage and Hydrazoa, the teams were chosen for the upcoming tournament and the Muscle League set off to train in their teams in preparation for the first match in one week's time.

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Mask Madness**

Kevin paused, the punch-bag before him slowly swinging to a halt as he ceased his barrage of punches upon it. He straightened his back, honing his senses as he tried to guess, or at least to hear, exactly who had just entered the gym behind him. He had specifically reserved the small room just for himself, and he was certain that none of the gym staff would be stupid enough to interrupt his training, which meant that it was no doubt one of those interfering, do-good, Muscle League idiots; but which one?

The sound of a sly fart slipping out behind him caused Kevin's face to drop, and his mind to instantly present him with the name of his very unwanted intruder.

"Kid Muscle," he said without turning around. "What do you want?"

"Hi Kevin!" Kid replied, walking up behind him. "I just wondered how you were?"

Kevin turned around, at which Kid skidded to a halt, grinning up at Kevin in a manner that caused Kevin's blood to run cold.

"What have you done?" Kevin asked quietly. "Or what do you want?"

"Nothing!" Kid yelped defensively. "I was just passing-by, and I thought I'd say hi, that's all. I mean, we are friends, right?"

"No," Kevin flatly replied. "Go away."

"Kevin!" Kid moaned. "C'mon, dude! We're friends, right?"

Kevin let out a short sigh, his shoulders slouching forwards in defeat.

"Alright, alright," he said slowly. "Tell me what it is that you want. Whatever it is, I'll do it. If it means getting rid of you, and getting some peace, I'll do it."

"I don't want anything, Kevin!" Kid said loudly. "Man, you are so mean and rude! I actually came here to give you a really special present, and this is the thanks I get? Well you know what? I don't think I should bother any more!"

"Please don't," Kevin monotonously replied.

"But it's a really cool present, Kevin! I just know you're gonna love it!"

"If it's that good, why don't you just keep it for yourself, Kid. In fact, why don't you go play with it right now, and leave me alone to get on with my training to save your stupid wife and her equally as stupid friends?"

Kid began to laugh, catching Kevin completely off-guard.

"I just insulted your wife," Kevin said. "Aren't you angry?"

"You said I should play with it!" Kid sniggered.

"And just why is that so funny?" Kevin demanded.

"Well, because your present is your very own personal trainer!" Kid replied.

"I already told you, I train alone."

"But I got Lord Flash back for you!"

"What?"

"Come on in, Lord Flash!"

Kid was looking over his shoulder at the doorway he had come through, and even Kevin found himself leaning to one side to look over Kid at the door. He held his breath in preparation of the worst as the door began to open, only to let out his breath in a short, sharp cough as Lord Flash walked into the gym, in his old blue and white ensemble that he had worn throughout the Chojin Crown.

"Warsman?" Kevin asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"I'll leave you two alone to catch up on old times!" Kid said cheerfully, turning his back on Kevin and walking over towards the doorway. "See ya later, Kev! Bye, Lord Flash!"

Kid walked out of the door, closing it behind himself.

"Did my father send you here?" Kevin demanded, his eyes still fixed onto Lord Flash.

Lord Flash remained perfectly still and silent, which caused Kevin to grow suspicious.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"To train you, Kevin!" Lord Flash replied, swinging a fist in the air.

Kevin narrowed his eyes, his suspicion growing at Lord Flash's uncharacteristically jovial action.

"Why did you put on that ridiculous disguise?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Why not just confront me in your true form?"

Lord Flash faltered, fidgeting nervously as he tried to think of an answer: which seemed to Kevin to be even more uncharacteristic of the old android, whether he was talking to Kevin as Warsman or as his alter ego, Lord Flash.

"I'm really in no humour to play my father's stupid little games right now," Kevin added. "I am quite happy to put aside our past, but I am not prepared to suddenly become his model son. I never will be. And you are a part of my father I would much rather forget, Warsman. Now bugger off!"

"Oh come now Kevin, don't you remember what fun we had during the Chojin Crown?" Lord Flash asked.

"Fun?" Kevin echoed. "We never had fun! We trained bloody hard the whole time!"

"Exactly!" Lord Flash replied. "We trained bloody hard, and it was bloody good fun! Just think, we can train even harder now for the Bad Blood Tournament!"

Kevin's suspicion grew larger still; something was definitely wrong.

"Why did Kid Muscle take you here?" he asked. "Didn't my father have the balls to do it himself?"

Kevin took a step towards Lord Flash, surprised to see that his action cause Lord Flash to take two steps back.

"Your father knows that you still don't trust him, Kevin," Lord Flash hurriedly explained. "And he didn't send me here. Kid Muscle asked me to train you."

"Oh really?" Kevin scoffed. "Well I've already mastered the OLAP, what else can you possibly teach me now?"

"Kid Muscle suggested that I teach you about the Power of Friendship."

Kevin's suspicion suddenly changed to anger. This was obviously Kid Muscle's idea of a joke. And the person he was talking to was obviously not Lord Flash – or at least, certainly not the Lord Flash that Kevin had known.

"Hey Kev, guess what?" Mars said, barging through the gym door. "What da fu-Flash?"

Mars stumbled to a halt, leaning over Lord Flash. Suddenly seeing Lord Flash in direct proportion with someone else, Kevin realised that it was definitely not Warsman inside the disguise, since Mars easily towered over the figure dressed in blue and white.

"Hey Lord Flash, what a big ass you have," Mars sneered.

"Shut you mouth you foul fowl!" Lord Flash retorted, planting his hands on his hips in a manner that was all-too-familiar for Kevin.

"And hey Lord Flash," Mars added, grinning down at the person disguised as Kevin's one-time trainer. "What large breasts you have."

Lord Flash let out a high-pitched yelp, stepping back in an attempt to put some distance between himself and Mars, but only succeeding in clattering into a folded table-tennis table that was standing against the wall.

"Hey Kev, I got somethin' real funny to tell ya," Mars said turning back to Kevin and walking over to him.

"So funny that you felt the need to interrupt my training?" Kevin asked.

"Hey, it don't look like you're doin' much trainin' in here," Mars sarcastically replied, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the wannabe Lord Flash.

"Who is it?" Kevin whispered.

"It's…" Mars began, pausing as a smile crept onto his face. "Hey, I'll show you!"

Kevin frowned as Mars pulled his visor down over his eyes, activating his Mask of Madness. With his Mask of Madness functional, Mars winked at Kevin and then spun around on the spot, zapping Lord Flash in the head with a shot from his mask. Lord Flash screamed, the force of the blow knocking him back through the table behind him, causing him to land in an ungraceful heap, his feet up in the air. Mars laughed at the results of his actions, walking over to the scene of the carnage, beckoning for Kevin to follow him. With a sigh, Kevin reluctantly followed after Mars.

The two Chojins stopped by the rubble, leaning over to look down at the fallen Lord Flash. As they watched, Lord Flash's feet slid downwards, and his hands grabbed at the wreckage around him, pulling himself up to his feet. Mars's shot had obliterated the mask that covered Lord Flash's head leaving a charred, angered face behind.

"You could have killed me. It's a super-human's duty to protect humans, not try to kill them! Arsehole!"

"Amy MacLeod…" Kevin said with a sigh as Amy pulled a shard of wood from her mouth.

"I hate you," she growled at Mars.

"Dere is such a fine line between love and hate, ya know," Mars reminded her.

"Well you make it thicker!" Amy snapped.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Kevin demanded of her. "Shouldn't you be washing dishes somewhere?"

Amy's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, both actions looking doubly effective against her blackened skin.

"I'm a chef, not a housewife, you ignorant prick!" she yelled at Kevin.

"Not a very good one though are you?" Kevin sighed. "The food you made at Kid Muscle's wedding tasted like crap."

"What would you know?" Amy snapped. "You uncultured, uncouth, pessimistic arse!"

"Uptight, interfering, conceited, snotty little cow!" Kevin snarled.

"Arrogant, dirty, smelly, miserable, whinging dickhead!" Amy retorted.

"I have better things to do with my time than stand around here and exchange pathetic, schoolyard insults with a silly little girl like you!"

"Then bugger off and leave me alone!"

"You were the one who came here! Dressed as my former mentor, no less! Exactly what did you hope to achieve from that one, eh?"

"Well, dere was dis rumour durin' da Chojin Crown dat you was doin' Lord Flash, it's probably got somethin' to do wid dat," Mars intercepted.

Kevin and Amy both turned to Mars, their eyes wide with shock; even with his mask on, Kevin's horror was clearly evident.

"There was a rumour that I was having sex with an old robot?" Kevin gasped. "But…"

"You think I dressed up as Lord Flash because I wanted Kevin Mask to have sex with me?" Amy yelped.

Mars grinned as Kevin turned sharply to Amy, and both eyed each other over, a mixture of emotions racing through both their minds.

"I always knew you were a sick pervert, Kevin Mask!" Amy spat, stepping up onto the rubble around her, making herself almost as tall as Kevin and Mars. "I'm so glad King Muscle has sent another ship to collect me. I wouldn't want to spend another minute with such a sick freak as you! I only did this as a joke for Kid, but since you obviously have no sense of humour whatsoever, I guess that was just a wasted exercise!"

Kevin opened his mouth to respond to Amy as she started to leave, but found himself as a loss for words. Both Kevin and Mars started as Amy forcefully slammed the door behind herself upon taking her leave.

"Dat's really funny, huh?" Mars asked, lightly nudging Kevin in the ribs with his elbow.

"No," Kevin moodily replied. "Lord Flash betrayed me! And I'm not happy about these bloody slanderous rumours about my relationship with my ex-trainer! Who started them?"

"I wasn't talkin' about Lord Flash, I was talkin' about Amy," Mars corrected him.

"Bloody hell, you finally got the girl's name right… Wait a minute… Why did you get her name right?"

"Dat's what I was talkin' about."

Kevin waited for Mars to continue, and when he did not, Kevin let out an exasperated sigh.

"Take off your stupid Mask of Madness, Mars," he suggested. "And then talk to me like a real person, please."

"Oh, right…"

Mars deactivated his Mask of Madness, shaking himself off as his headdress turned red once more and settled around his back and shoulders.

"So I just got back from McMadd's, yeah?" he began. "I was readin' all dat stuff dey got from Amy about you and me when we was in da DMP."

"Oh," Kevin groaned. "She is such a lying, conniving little cow! I knew she sold her stupid story to the McMadds!"

"Nah, Kev, she didn't sell dem nothin'," Mars denied, shaking his head. "She lost her story she was writin' on us. Doomsmane burnt it to dust when he attacked her."

Kevin frowned, his mind processing this information, which actually seemed to make some degree of sense.

"But if she lost her story, how did the McMadds find out about us?" Kevin asked. "All that stuff they knew about Edward, and you, and me, and… How?"

"Well, when I was at da Hercules Factory da second time round, I told da guys about da girl dat followed us around all da time when we was in da DMP together," Mars explained. "I couldn't remember her name, alls I could remember was dat you wanted to do her, and dat she had da hots for me. Anyways, somebody told King Muscle, and he told Kid Muscle and Kid told Jacqueline McMadd, cause he wanted to do her, and she said she was lookin' for information on us when we was in da DMP. So den da McMadds all went lookin' for Amy. When dey found her, dey offered her money for her story, but she said no. But den someone broke into her apartment and stole her private diaries, and da McMadds got our story from dere, cause she'd been writin' stuff in dere too."

"They stole her private diaries?" Kevin repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Mars confirmed. "Funny, huh? I guess she didn't sell us out after all. Da other funny bit is, she says it was you who stole her diaries."

"Yes, she did say something about that back on Muscle Planet…"

"Hey Kev, her diaries are real funny, too. I was really wrong about her. She's totally weird!"

"You read her diaries?"

"Of course I did!"

"But how?"

"I already told ya! McMadd's got 'em!"

"Which McMadd? And where are they?"

Mars leaned back from Kevin, eying him over in alarm.

"Settle down!" he said. "Ikeman's got 'em. He lets everybody read 'em, just ask him."

Kevin took a step back from Mars, a small smile creeping onto his face beneath his mask.

"Oh, you've read 'em already, huh?" Mars asked, pointing at Kevin and grinning, nodding his head knowingly.

"What?" Kevin echoed, turning to him questioningly.

"Well if you ain't read 'em, what ya smilin' like dat for, huh?"

"I'm not smiling!"

"Yes you are!"

"How can you even see what I'm doing? I'm wearing a bleeding great metal mask over my entire head!"

"Hey, I ain't stupid, Kevin!"

Kevin began to worry again that Mars had indeed developed some sort of x-ray vision that allowed him to see right through his mask and see his expression underneath; Kevin made a mental note to be more guarded with his expressions around Mars in future.

"So, you wanna maybe do some sparrin', Kev?" Mars asked.

"No," Kevin replied. "I have to… I'll be back, I just have to…"

"You just have to read what Amy wrote about you in her diary, right?" Mars asked.

"No! No, don't be so ridiculous! As if I even care what some silly little scullery maid wrote about me in her… Diary… Did she write about me personally? I mean, other than that I was in the DMP, and that Edward was my brother?"

"I thought you just said dat you didn't care what she wrote…"

"I don't!"

"Den let's go spar."

"I was just… It's not like she wrote anything about… This one time… What about when she… And then I…"

"She wrote about you more dan she wrote about me. Is dat what you wanted to know?"

"Really? She did?"

"Yeah, but who cares, right? Da woman looks like a horse. She has dat long face, and dat big ass, and she flares her nostrils all da time when she talks at people. You'd be better wid Trixie's sister, she's a real fox!"

Kevin paused, glancing between the door and Mars. Mars sighed, rolling his eyes in defeat.

"Go up to da chariman's office, dere's a filing cabinet in da back left-hand corner of da room. Check in da drawer marked "Ikeman Chojin Crown"."

Kevin started to smile, but quickly stopped himself, lest Mars, with his newfound abilities, notice his reaction.

"I wasn't going to read her stupid, girlish journals!" he snapped indignantly. "I just needed to… To…Get some more protein bars. I won't be long."

"I bet you will be when you get to da part about your pretty, pretty hair…" Mars grumbled.

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"You'll see. Hey, get me some chocolate while you're gettin' your "protein bars", yeah?"

Kevin nodded his head, failing to notice Mars's sarcasm. He hurriedly made his way out of the room, quickening his pace as he made his way through the gym, eventually breaking into a run as he left through the main entrance.

* * *

Kevin quietly pulled open the drawer labelled "Ikeman Chojin Crown", peering inside. There were copies of all three of the _The Reason_ books that the IWF had published, brochures the IWF had released for the tournament, and piles of paperwork. Kevin reached one hand into the drawer, clawing aside the loose sheets of paper to reveal two A5 sized books. One was tattered and old, the other looked almost new. Kevin grabbed up both books, slamming the drawer shut and walking over to the chairman's desk. Kevin sat down into the large leather chair, propping his booted feet up onto the desk in front of himself. He placed the newer book down on the desk surface, sitting back with the older one to commence reading.

"January first, 2006," Kevin quietly read aloud from the first page. "_This year, my New Year's Resolutions are_…"

Kevin frowned, rolling his eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully. It had been in the latter part of 2007 that he had first met Amy, meaning that anything written prior to then was really of no interest whatsoever to him. Looking back down at the book in his hands, Kevin began to claw through the pages, silently noting that the entries were infrequent and irregular, with some being written everyday, and some being written several weeks apart. Kevin did not stop flicking through the pages until he saw a phrase he recognised: High Park Ladies' Club.

"_Today I started my new job with High Park Ladies' Club_," Kevin read aloud, keeping his voice hushed. "_The management are all snot-nosed bastards, the club members are mostly posh bitches with no personalities, but the other waiters and waitresses are quite friendly. It's only a short-term job anyway_…"

Kevin began to slowly turn the pages again, skim-reading until he saw something else that looked familiar.

"_What a horrible week I've just had!_" he read. "_After getting sacked from High Park, I lost out on two more jobs, and I was mugged again. All this is thanks to two stupid Devil Chojins I met at High Park. They gave me some bullshit story about being a pair of magicians from a company called "Dynamic Magic People" – as if anyone is stupid enough to actually believe that that is what DMP stands for!_"

Kevin laughed out loud; he had forgotten about Mars's little lie regarding the initials on their clothing that night at High Park Ladies' Club.

"_And I guess what they say about wrestlers is true_," Kevin continued. "_All those men stripping off their clothes and touching each other all day, they are all gay._ What?"

Kevin sat forwards in alarm.

"_One of them was dressed in pink, and the other one had the sort of long blonde hair that most girls would pay a small fortune for_!"

Kevin yelped in despair.

"But…"

He groaned, sitting back in the seat to read on.

"_They both rented a room at The Palace, but the blonde one didn't even want to have sex with any of the girls_," he read. "_I found him skulking about in the corridors on his own. He's probably into voyeurism, the sick freak._"

Kevin narrowed his eyes.

"Sick freak, am I?" he growled. "I saved your life that night, you ungrateful little…"

Swallowing back his pride and anger, Kevin read on.

"_He even had the nerve to argue with me, insult me by every means possible, and then ask me if I was as turned on as he was! What an arsehole!_"

Kevin turned to the next entry, biting back the urge to throw the book across the room in anger.

"_It's been so long since I last wrote_," he read. "_I've found the DMP Headquarters, and I've been writing up a report on the things I've learned there. I was going to sell my story, but now I'm not so sure. My main focus initially was on the Devil Chojin called Mars. He had an interesting past, one that he spoke freely about every time he got drunk or smoked pot – which was pretty much every night. It turns out that his father had big plans for him, but he ran away as a kid, and someone at the DMP scarred his face for life. I'm not quite sure how, but this stopped him from being able to go back home, as he would be a disgrace to his family, so he stayed in the DMP. His history was fascinating, but, over time, the main focus of my story, and indeed my interest, has shifted to Mars's partner, the Devil Chojin called Kevin Mask._"

Kevin paused, the sudden sensation that he was being watched overwhelming him. He glanced around himself, before letting out a sigh. It really was quite pathetic that he was sitting reading the private diaries of a girl who did nothing but arouse his anger. She was such a loud-mouthed creature that he was more than certain that she would gladly repeat anything written down in her personal journal directly to his face, anyway.

Kevin looked down at the book again, flicking through the pages, casually reading a line from each page as he went.

"_Told Mars his father's secret to save his own life_; _must be awful to have a brother like that_; _big dragon ripped my face open_;_someone saved my life and then kissed me_; _actually Kevin Mask, he looks just like Nick Hasler_–"

Kevin growled, narrowing his eyes and stopping at the page he had reached.

"_It was actually Kevin Mask, he looks just like Nick Hasler_," he read again, starting the sentence from the previous page. "_He has the same lost little schoolboy look about him, the same tender and innocent blue eyes, the same gorgeous blonde hair_."

Kevin growled again.

"Lost little schoolboy my arse!" he grumbled. "And to say that… Wait a minute…"

Kevin quickly reread the first few lines again, reading aloud from the end part of the last sentence.

"_The same gorgeous blonde hair a girl just wants to claw her fingers through all day long_," he said slowly, his eyes tripping over each word. "_As much as the man drives me up the wall sometimes, I can't deny how smoulderingly sexy he looked when waves of his beautiful hair fell over his face as he leaned over to kiss me! In my shock when I found out he was actually Kevin Mask, I smacked him with his mask before passing out – when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, and all the staff told me that an unusual man in an iron mask had taken me in, but had left again – if only they knew who he really was. As I lie here I wonder why Kevin still wears a mask: a face that good-looking should not be hidden away from the world. If I close my eyes, I can still see the gentle expression on his face as he tended to me, I can still taste his lips against mine, still feel his wonderfully silky smooth hair as it fell across the back of my hand. If only he hadn't been such a stuck-up, argumentative, critical, cold-shouldered emotional retard, I could have actually_… I could have actually… I could have… Actually…"

Kevin gulped, finding it almost impossible to read the very last line.

"_I could have actually fallen quite madly in love with him_," he said quietly.

Kevin sighed, smiling softly to himself. However, the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside of the chairman's office quickly awoke him from his reverie. Kevin slammed the book shut, grabbing it and the other one up and throwing them back into the drawer he had taken them from. Kevin hastily left the room, running into the nearest elevator, only allowing himself to relax when the doors closed on him.

Kevin let out a sigh of relief that he had not been caught; the last thing he wanted was anyone thinking that he actually cared what that irksome little wench actually thought of him.

As the elevator sank down towards the ground floor, Kevin shifted his weight from foot to foot, wondering why he felt suddenly so uncomfortable. Looking down, Kevin saw exactly why. Clearing his throat nervously, Kevin hurriedly fastened his long coat, thrusting his hands into the pockets to ensure it did not flap open again as he walked.

Hunching his shoulders, Kevin slid out of the doors before they had fully opened, hurriedly making his way back to the gym.

"Chocolate?" Mars greeted him, standing up from his position sat on the stone steps at the main entrance to the building.

"Shower," Kevin flatly replied, hurrying on to the showers.

Mars frowned after him curiously, but Kevin ignored Mars, and everyone else who crossed his path on route. As dismal as the concept seemed to him, Kevin realised then that taking cold showers was going to become a habit for him over the coming weeks.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** With the imminent start of the Bad Blood Tournament getting nearer and nearer, tensions amongst more than just the warring Chojins are running high. **Chapter 6 – Pretty, Pretty Hair.**


	6. Pretty, Pretty Hair

**A/N:** I know the Japanese do not celebrate or acknowledge Halloween, but the reason for it being in there now will be covered later in this fic. I promise!

**Recap:** At Kid Muscle's request, Amy dressed up as Lord Flash to play a trick on Kevin, but Mars's Mask of Madness revealed the truth, and Kevin learned that the McMadds held Amy's private diaries, which he immediately sought out and read from.

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Pretty, Pretty Hair**

Kevin Mask slowly narrowed his eyes, his posture softening as he began to slouch in his seat. Vance McMadd's words were beginning to all roll into one long word that seemed to originate from an ancient tongue that Kevin was not familiar with, the very sound of which made him want to sleep very badly. He did not really need to stay where he was, others were moving around the room, talking quietly amongst themselves about various things; but, Kevin decided, if he did leave the table, he would no doubt be accosted by the likes of Kid Muscle, trying to play more stupid jokes on him.

Kevin suppressed a sigh, shifting his eyes to the floor-length windows along one wall of the room, which looked out onto a vast balcony. Kevin slowly surveyed the balcony, his eyes passing over the figure standing by the railing at first. As he looked back along the length of the balcony, Kevin's eyes stopped on the person standing by the outer corner of the railings, looking out over the city. Kevin pushed back his chair, and got to his feet, drawing in a deep breath. As he began to walk away from the table, Ikeman McMadd said something to him about the importance of his father's speech, but Kevin did not really hear him, and did not really care for what he had to say, anyway.

Kevin quietly slid open the door that led out onto the balcony, creeping out of it. He began to sneak up towards the person standing out there, who was still completely unaware of his presence, when he suddenly stopped short. Inside his head, he heard Amy's voice talking to him. "_I found him skulking about in the corridors on his own_," it said. "_He's probably into voyeurism, the sick freak_." Kevin growled at the insinuation, straightening his back defensively. He raised one fist to the section of his mask that covered his mouth and let out a loud, false, forced cough.

Amy turned her head, her eyes narrowing as she sighted Kevin.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

"Oh, nothing," Kevin casually replied, flicking a hand at the chunk of hair that hung over his left shoulder.

Amy frowned at him, her eyes shifting to his hair. Kevin smiled beneath his mask, her voice resounding inside his mind once more. "_The same gorgeous blonde hair a girl just wants to claw her fingers through all day long_," it said.

"Then leave me alone please," Amy said quietly, turning back to her view of the city. "I specifically came out here to be alone. I'm minding my own business, waiting for the spaceship to come get me."

"Oh," Kevin said, stopping by her side.

He looked down at her, waiting for her to say something else, or to at least turn to look at him again. But instead she remained silent, her elbows resting on the railing, her eyes still watching the skies above the city. Kevin's eyes slowly ran along her back as he silently acknowledged that, in her current position, she was slightly bent over.

"Get your eyes off my arse, you lecher!" Amy suddenly snapped out.

Kevin turned sharply back to look at Amy's face, finding that it was creased into the usual scowl she regarded him with. She let out a short sigh of annoyance, and this time, Kevin noticed that she did actually flare her nostrils at him upon the gesture, just as Mars was always accusing her of doing. She stood up straight, turning to fully face Kevin, crossing her arms moodily over her chest.

"Put on a more respectable outfit, and people won't be looking at your arse, you stupid cow," Kevin recovered coolly.

Amy's eyes widened, the creases in her face disappearing. She looked down at herself, then over each of her shoulders in turn before looking up at Kevin again.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" she yelped. "Since when was a pair of black baggy combats and a black fleece sweater unrespectable? And, for your information, Terry Kenyon lent these trousers to me and I got this sweater from Jaeger! I'm wearing men's clothing, you stupid arse!"

"Oh really?" Kevin sighed, flicking a hand at the hair hanging over his right shoulder.

Amy faltered again, her eyes dropping to his hair and staying there for several seconds before lifting to his eyes again.

"Yes, really," she replied impatiently. "Terry and I have the same inside leg length, so he offered me some of his clothes. I didn't much fancy wearing any cowboy shirts, so I asked Jaeger if I could borrow the sweater he had in his bag."

"Do you like wearing men's clothing?" Kevin asked slyly.

"Not half as much as you like wearing women's underwear…" Amy muttered.

"I heard that," Kevin snapped.

"You were meant to!" Amy retorted, her face scrunching up again, and her eyes flashing with rage. "God you really piss me off, you know that?"

Kevin smiled to himself again, Amy's voice again reading aloud a line from her journal in his head. "_As much as the man drives me up the wall sometimes, I can't deny how smoulderingly sexy he looked when waves of his beautiful hair fell over his face as he leaned over to kiss me_." Kevin's smile widened and he flicked the hair off each of his shoulders in turn, watching in amusement as Amy's expression changed, her eyes falling onto his hair again.

"I heard they're auditioning for a Head and Shoulders commercial downtown," she said quietly, her eyes wandering back up to Kevin's. "Maybe you should audition, since you can't seem to stop tossing your hair around all over the place today."

"I'm not tossing my hair around!" Kevin slyly replied. "You're just paranoid."

"And why would I be paranoid?" Amy asked.

Kevin opened his mouth to reply, a witty innuendo about her diaries entering his mind; but he stopped as he saw that, although Amy was still talking tough, and still scowling up at him, her cheeks had turned a little pinker than their usual pale colour, leading him to the conclusion that she was probably well aware that he had read what she had written about his hair.

"Exactly how do you expect to see a spaceship in broad daylight anyhow?" he asked instead, deciding to save the contents of her journals for another time.

"Gee, I dunno, maybe because they're so huge, and it will be landing not far from here?" Amy sarcastically replied, before rolling her eyes in exasperation. "And believe me, it can't get here soon enough for my liking…" she added in a much quieter voice.

She turned back to her view over the city, starting to lean over to rest her elbows on the railings again, only to sharply straighten her back again, casting Kevin a sideward scowl of displeasure. Kevin smiled as another witticism entered his mind, but before he could throw it at Amy, a scream from inside interrupted him, one so loud and terrifying it caused Amy to leap around and grab a hand to her chest.

"Kid Muscle!" she gasped.

Kevin groaned, turning back to face the glass walls of the room behind them. Inside, he could see that Kid Muscle had just leapt into Checkmate's arms, his mouth hanging open wide and tears forming in his eyes.

"At least dis time he didn't piss himself again," Mars darkly commented.

Kevin made his way back over to the room, stepping back through the doorway as Checkmate lowered Kid to the ground, but failed to manage to pry Kid's arms from around his neck.

"This isn't fair!" Kid wailed. "Why do I have to do it?"

"But thou art shall not be alone, Kid Muscle," Checkmate pointed out, tugging at Kid's arms. "For I shall be fighting at thy side."

"But on Halloween?" Kid wailed. "It's bad enough I gotta fight that big scary corpse called Death Angel, but now I gotta do it on Halloween?"

"We didn't pick the dates for these matches, Kid Muscle," Ikeman patiently explained.

"Then who did?" Kevin asked.

"Take a guess," Mars snorted.

"Edward," Kevin groaned.

"Y'all don't reckon he chose Halloween deliberately, do ya?" Terry Kenyon asked.

"Hm," Meat said thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin. "I have a theory–"

"Save it," Dik Dik warned him. "If it's frightening, now probably isn't the best time to tell Kid."

Meat nodded his understanding, before frowning up at Kid as he reluctantly let go of Checkmate at last.

"We oughta be talkin' strategy, here," Meat pointed out.

"We oughta be fightin', not talkin'!" Mars growled, smacking a fist into the open palm of his other hand. "Dose jackasses took da girls!"

"But the whole point of being here today was for you to tell us all about The Anarchists!" Meat snapped irritably. "So c'mon already! What should we be lookin' out for, huh?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, the voices of those around him once more swirling into a nonsensical babble. As his eyes wandered around the room in search of something more useful to employ his time with, a dark shadow passing along the wall peaked his interest. Turning to the glass wall again, Kevin looked out across the sky as a medium-sized Kinniku transport ship soared downwards. Kevin turned to the point where he had left Amy, half-expecting her to either still be there or at least walking towards him; but she had gone.

Glancing around to ensure that no-one was watching him, Kevin quietly slipped out of the conference room, glancing up and down the corridor for any signs of Amy. When he still failed to locate her, Kevin concluded that she must have run off as soon as she sighted the ship, and would probably be on her way down to the ground floor. Kevin started towards the elevator, but again hesitated. He really did not want anyone to know that he was following the girl.

Glancing around himself for a suitable alternative, Kevin brightened as he located the smaller cargo elevator used for transporting heavy goods between floors of the IWF Headquarters. Kevin jogged towards it, frowning as he saw that the door was closing before his eyes. He quickly reached out a hand grabbing the metal grill door before it shut and forcing it back open.

Kevin stepped into the elevator and slammed the door shut with a satisfying clang before pressing the button to commence his descent.

"I specifically came here to avoid you, Kevin."

Kevin stiffened at the sound of the voice behind him.

"Likewise," he replied, trying his best to sound calm and collected.

Kevin started to turn around, but paused as he was berated for his actions.

"Don't turn around, you bloody idiot!"

"Why not?" Kevin asked, turning around regardless.

Amy let out a snarl of displeasure as she came face-to-face with Kevin Mask.

"Idiot," she grumbled.

"Oh…" Kevin muttered.

Due to the elevator being much smaller than a standard elevator, as it was intended solely for the transportation of objects rather than people, there was barely enough room inside for both Kevin and Amy; and facing each other, there was barely an inch between their bodies.

"Like you didn't plan this…" Amy growled in a low voice.

"I was trying to avoid you!" Kevin retorted, feeling almost justified in his response, since he had genuinely taken the heavy goods elevator to avoid anyone, including her.

"Like hell you were!" Amy snapped.

"Listen," Kevin began, placing one hand on the back wall of the cage-like enclosure and leaning over Amy. "I may be–"

"Oh give me a break, would you?" Amy interrupted him, slapping aside his hair as it fell over her face. "Like this isn't just some transparent excuse to piss me off! I'm not stupid, you know! I know the only woman you've ever known in your adult life is Jacqueline McMadd, but just for the record, not all women are the same, okay?"

"Don't flatter yourself, woman!" Kevin snorted. "You make it sound like I actually give a damn about what you think!"

"I was on very powerful medication, I'll have you know," Amy grumbled, her face turning pinker again. "I may have written one or two things that weren't a true reflection of my feelings. So you can just forget all that black steed and pretty, pretty hair crap, understand?"

Kevin faltered as Amy locked her eyes onto his. He could not help but look shocked by her words, since he genuinely did not understand her at all. Obviously she was referring to the entries in her stolen diaries, but Kevin certainly had no recollection of reading anything about any black steeds or pretty, pretty hair.

"And don't patronise me, Kevin Mask!" Amy snapped, her face turning red with both anger and embarrassment. "Don't pretend you don't understand, because I know that you do! My life was stolen away from me so that those arsehole McMadds could produce those stupid books about you, Mars and Kid. I was so ashamed my privacy had been ripped to pieces, I was glad to leave this planet! I vowed never to come back here, and if it hadn't been for that bird-brained moron, I wouldn't be here right now! I just want to go back to my kitchen in Muscleham Palace! I never asked to be trapped in a rickety old cage with your stinky, sweaty body pressed up against me – and Kevin?"

"Yes?" Kevin asked cautiously.

"That had better be something in your pocket that's digging into my hip and not an extension of your anatomy."

Kevin swallowed quietly, mentally kicking himself for failing to think up a suitable response to throw Amy off her train of thought.

"I could take you to court for that, y'know," Amy growled. "Excuse me, this is my floor."

"What?" Kevin echoed as Amy ducked under his left arm and slammed the palm of her hand against the emergency stop button.

"I'd rather walk," she explained. "Now move over and let me out."

"Move over where?" Kevin asked.

Amy looked around herself, before screwing shut her eyes in frustration.

"Never mind," she said tightly.

Kevin let out an involuntary yelp as Amy grabbed his hips in both hands and pressed herself against him. He looked down at her in alarm and confusion, but her head was turned away from him. In his dazed state, Kevin allowed Amy to manoeuvre his body around, moving herself with him until they had swapped places, with Amy standing at the door.

"Goodbye, Kevin," she said, turning her back on him. "I would say good luck fighting your brother, but since you're doing it to free that bitch Jacqueline McMadd, I'd rather not."

Amy grabbed the sliding metal door, tearing it back. She gasped at what she saw, but Kevin began to grin with malicious delight.

"Oops," she muttered.

As Amy studied what lay outside the elevator, Kevin let out a small laugh, leaning back against the back wall of the tiny elevator.

"Looks like we're between floors," he commented. "Did you mean to do that?"

"Nobody likes a smartarse, least of all me!" Amy snapped. "And it's fine, I can still get out!"

Amy reached her hands up to the floor that lay level with her shoulders, spreading her hands out flat on the surface before hoisting herself upwards.

"I don't think you really want to do that," Kevin pointed out.

"Shut-up, arsehead!" Amy snapped.

"Fine, but don't say that I didn't warn you…" Kevin muttered.

Kevin's grin widened as a loud clang rang out, followed by a yelp of pain from Amy, after which she fell in an ungraceful heap, her back thrown against Kevin's legs. She slowly lifted her head up, looking up at Kevin standing over her.

"I did try to warn you that you were going to bash your head on the doorframe, but you told me to shut-up," he explained.

"Grr, I just want to get out of here right now!" Amy growled, rubbing a hand at the top of her head where she had collided with the doorframe.

"Right you are," Kevin said, bending down towards her.

"What are you–?" Amy began, stopping short as Kevin grabbed an arm over one of her shoulders and hooked the other around one of her thighs.

As Kevin hoisted Amy up off the floor he smirked to himself at the shocked and awkward expression on her face. When she was not scowling like she usually did, and with a flush of colour staining her features, she almost looked like a pretty girl, Kevin thought to himself. But only almost.

"Forget it!" she said hurriedly, kicking and thrashing in his hold. "I'll just… I'll just wait."

"Are you sure?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, damn it!" Amy snapped, clawing at the door as she tried to pull it shut again.

"Okay," Kevin muttered, opening out his arms and allowing her to fall to the ground.

Amy let an "oof" sound as the air was forced from her body upon impact with the ground, but Kevin ignored her agonies, slamming shut the door and releasing the stop button to set the elevator in motion once more.

"You are such an uncouth buffoon, Kevin," Amy growled, pushing herself up onto all fours. "If you weren't a super-human, I'd kill you."

Amy slowly raised herself up onto her knees, tilting her head to look up at Kevin. She opened her mouth to add another insult to her list, but the sound of the door opening behind her stopped her short.

"Um…" a voice behind her said. "I'm not… Interrupting anything, am I, Miss MacLeod?"

"Hm?" Amy echoed, looking over her shoulder.

She began to smile as she caught sight of one of her assistants from Muscle Planet, but the embarrassed and awkward expression on his face made her smile drop. Her head snapped around to face Kevin, her eyes doubling in size as she found her face level with his crotch.

"Ah!" she yelped, leaping to her feet and staggering back out of the elevator. "You…" she began, scowling up at Kevin.

"I'm sorry, I just came to tell you that we're ready to go back to Muscle Planet right now," Amy's assistant said quietly. "But if you're busy…"

"Not busy!" Amy hurriedly said, smoothing a hand over her hair, her eyes fixed on Kevin's masked face. "And that wasn't what it looked like, I swear!"

Kevin smirked in delight as a twisted idea occurred to him. He took a tight hold of the elevator door, ready to slam it shut before daring to issue his final remark to the girl before him.

"Going down?" he asked.

Amy let out an inhuman squeak, her bottom jaw dropping open. She was momentarily frozen in shock, allowing Kevin the chance to slam the door shut between them,

"Bastard!" she screamed, slamming her fists against the door. "I hope your brother beats you!"

Amy growled and grumbled to herself and began to pace back and forth in front of the elevator door as it began to move off again.

"Um, Miss MacLeod?" her assistant asked meekly.

"I already told you, call me Amy!" she snapped, rounding on him.

He shrank beneath her, a small tremble passing over his body.

"Y-yes, Amy," he said nervously.

"Now get me out of here!" she demanded. "Right now!"

"Yes, Amy."

* * *

Mars jogged around the corner in the corridor, his head darting back and forth from side to side, his eyes desperately seeking out something. In his desperation, he overlooked the crumpled form by one of the doorways on the left a short way ahead of him at first, but as he returned his eyes to it for a second look, he skidded to a halt, a wide grin manifesting upon his face.

"Hey dere, what cha doin'?" he asked, sauntering up to the form by the door.

"I'm scared," a muffled voice answered him.

"Aw, dat's too bad, Kid," Mars said, squatting down by Kid Muscle's side. "Hey, did you know dere was a spaceship from Muscle Planet just landed outside?"

"Yeah, my dad sent for the chef," Kid monotonously replied.

"Da chef?" Mars repeated slowly. "She's goin' home dis time?"

"Yeah."

Mars slowly cleared his throat, looking up towards the ceiling thoughtfully for a moment.

"Say Kid, what was you so scared of anyways?" he asked, dropping his eyes back to Kid.

"The Anarchists!" Kid wailed, lifting his head from behind his arms.

"Yeah, you oughta be scared!" Mars said.

"Huh?" Kid yelped, turning to face Mars in alarm.

"Dey fight real dirty, too!" Mars continued. "Dat's why I was askin' you about dat spaceship. Cause y'know, dose Anarchists would probably put a bomb on a ship like dat, tryin' to get to you."

"They would try to bomb me? But that would kill me!"

"Yeah, but you ain't goin' on dat ship, right? It's just dat crazy chef."

"Yeah, it's just that crazy ch… ef… But if anything happens to her, I won't get cow and rice in bed any more!"

"So?"

"So? But…"

Kid leapt to his feet, a familiar glow appearing in his eyes. Suppressing a grin, Mars slowly rose up at Kid's side.

"Which way to the spaceship, Mars?" Kid asked, his voice suddenly steady and strong.

"Dat way," Mars said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "And da bomb you're lookin' for is a kinda circular metal thing, it kinda looks like a gear out of a clock. Dey would probably put it inside two big metal plates, in a part of da ship's engine called da "turbo thruster"."

"Turbo thruster, right!"

Mars watched Kid run off, before allowing his grin to return to his face.

"Sucker…" he muttered to himself once Kid was safely out of earshot.

* * *

Kevin checked over his shoulder one last time before darting around the corner of the corridor, only to let out a groan of shock and pain as he collided with a body as big as his own.

"Watch where you're going, you bloody great idiot!" he snapped.

Mars slowly folded his arms over his chest, studying Kevin for a moment before turning his head to take a long look over his right shoulder. Kevin began to sweat as he realised just what was going through Mars's mind.

"I was goin' to da little boy's room, but it looks like you was goin' to da chairman's office," Mars said slowly, as he turned back to Kevin.

"No," Kevin hurriedly lied. "I was going to the toilets too. I just… Forgot which way they were."

"I see," Mars said slowly, nodding his head.

"Yes," Kevin replied, nodding his head in rhythm with Mars.

"So you definitely wasn't goin' to go read no more of horse-face's diary?" Mars asked casually.

"No, of course not!" Kevin snorted indignantly.

"Sure. Y'know, I can tell when you're lyin' to me, Kev. Your ears go pink and your nose twitches."

Kevin slapped one hand over the part of his mask that covered his nose and the other over one of his ears.

"Wait a minute, how the bloody hell can you see what my face is doing beneath my mask?" Kevin recovered, pulling his hands away from his face.

Mars winked at him, tapping a finger against the side of his nose.

"What?" Kevin echoed. "What is this supposed to mean?"

Kevin tapped a finger at his mask where his nose was, frowning questioningly at Mars.

"Beverly Park, but my guess is she don't wanna see you right now," Mars replied.

Kevin straightened, his mind melting as he tried to make any sort of sense of what his friend had just said.

"Beverly Park?" he repeated.

"Well, I reckon she'd go find Meat or Kid, but she won't wanna come back here, so she'll probably be down dere somewhere, waitin' for 'em to get back home," Mars explained.

"Mars, could we maybe start this conversation again, and perhaps this time you could explain to me what the devil you are talking about?" Kevin asked patiently.

"Horse-face's ride home had some difficulties and she had to come back," Mars said, his voice slow and loud as though he was talking to a child who was both stupid and hard of hearing.

"It did?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

Mars forced a smile as Kevin looked about himself as though he was looking for something that ought to be close to hand.

"Excuse me, would you?" he eventually said, walking on past Mars.

"Dat way, Kev," Mars suggested, pointing in the direction Kevin had just come from.

"I'm going to the toilets, remember?" Kevin snapped irritably.

"And da toilets are dat way," Mars frankly replied. "Of course, horse-face's diaries and horse-face herself are both da way you're goin'…"

Mars grinned as he heard Kevin spin around and march back in the opposite direction.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" he said decisively.

"Good for you buddy!" Mars called after him.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The Bad Blood Tournament kicks off with Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket fighting Master DJ and Wolfang to free Trixie, but as the match progresses, matters begin to look bleak for the Muscle League… **Chapter 7 – A Day at the Circus**. 


	7. A Day at the Circus

**A/N:** I never said this was a pretty story… In fact, it's kinda like a gruesome story incepted with comic relief…

This was as far as I had originally written in this fic (got to the bit where Jaeger heads off to look for Kid), so if the narrative changes a little beyond that point, it's because I'm picking this up part-way through a chapter many months after writing the original opening.

**Recap:** Amy set out to return to Muscle Planet, but Mars tried to throw a spanner in the works (almost literally!) by sending Kid Muscle to deactivate the "bomb" on board her return flight, whilst Kevin battled with his increasing curiosity towards Amy.

* * *

**Chapter 7 – A Day at the Circus**

"Kid, doesn't this make you feel proud?" Meat asked as he looked out over the rapidly filling seats surrounding the Hand of Hercules. "Just think of all the great battles that have been lost and won on that hand!"

Meat waited a short moment for Kid to answer him, before his proud smile slowly gave way to a frown.

"Kid?" he asked, turning to look over one shoulder and then the other. "Kid? Kid!"

Meat turned fully around, desperately searching all around for any traces of his pupil, but all to no avail.

"Jaeger!" Meat yelled as he saw the German Chojin walking nearby, heading towards the stands.

"Ja?" Jaeger called, stopping and turning towards him.

"Have you seen Kid anywhere?" Meat asked him.

"Nein, Meat," Jaeger replied, shaking his head.

"He better not be trying to run away again!" Meat growled, clenching a fist in the air.

"Vould you like me to look for him, Meat?" Jaeger asked.

"Yeah, thanks Jaeger!" Meat replied. "And tell everyone else to look out for him too!"

Jaeger started back in the direction he had come from, meeting up with Dik Dik and Checkmate as he did so.

"Have you guys seen Kid Muscle?" he asked them.

"No," Dik Dik slowly replied. "But I really don't like the look of that…"

Jaeger turned around, his eyes wandering upwards and widening a little as a rickety cage was lowered over the ring on the Hand of Hercules, a petrified Trixie staggering about inside it as she tried to remain on her feet against the swaying motion of the cage lowering and moving around to hang in place above the site of combat. As the cage finally came to rest, Trixie dropped to her knees, her head tilting back in interest as Mac Metaphor and Doc Nakano began to announce the fight. Meat ran past the others, urging them to sit down and pay attention, assuring them he would find Kid himself.

"No arguments from me, I want to see exactly what we're up against," Dik Dik said solemnly.

Checkmate and Jaeger nodded, following Dik Dik to their seats.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Bad Blood Tournament!" Ikeman McMadd's voice echoed around them. "Tonight you will see the first tag team match in this tournament, when the Muscle League's very own Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket take on DMP members Master DJ and Wolfang!"

"It seems a little odd to be sitting here without the girls…" Dik Dik casually observed, looking around himself as he spoke.

"It's not odd, it's peaceful," Kevin Mask corrected him as he and Mars joined them at their seats. "And besides, you can still see them from here, if you miss them that badly."

Kevin pointed at Trixie, earning himself a bland look from the others.

"Kev, nobody likes a girl in a cage more dan I do, but dat was low," Mars told him quietly.

"Vell she von't be zhere for much longer, Terry and Vally are sure to be victorious today!" Jaeger said cheerfully. "Look, here zhey come now!"

The others sat forwards to watch as Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket started towards the ring, accompanied by Terryman, who looked confident of victory for his team.

"Absolutely no way!" Kevin blurted out, drawing attention away from the contestants and in his own direction.

"But these are our seats," Meat said flatly.

"I am not sitting next to Kid Muscle, he urinates every time he sees one of our foes, and I just had this coat dry cleaned!" Kevin snapped back.

"Ooh…" Mars muttered, grinning at Jaeger. "So dat's why Mask was smellin' like a fresh summer breeze!"

Jaeger snorted out a short laugh before hurriedly cutting himself off as Kevin rounded on them.

"I'm moving to the end of the row," Kevin informed them.

"Well hey, I sure ain't sittin' next to pig-boy!" Mars said darkly, watching Kevin walk away from his side.

"Fine, I'll sit next to Mars," Meat said, dropping himself into the seat Kevin had just vacated. "Kid, you sit next to me, Kevin's sitting on the end seat, Amy, you'll just have to sit between Kid and Kevin."

Kevin stiffened at Meat's words, his eyes watching Kid pass him to sit next to Meat and then a girl dressed in ridiculous clothing skip over his feet and sit down quietly at his side. He turned his head towards her, thinning his eyes at her questioningly, but her eyes were fixed on the ring straight ahead of them. Kevin tried clearing his throat in the hope of gaining her attention, but she did not so much as blink at his actions.

"What are you doing here?" he eventually asked, his curiosity finally defeating him.

Amy turned to look up at him, staring at him blankly as though he just spoken to her in an alien language.

"And why are you dressed like a cow's maid?" he added.

"A wha…" she whispered, her face twisting, starting to move into the sort of angered and indignant look she normally regarded him with. "What rock were you born under? Geez! I'm a cowgirl! And I'm wearing a sham-rock in my hat for Wally, because it's Irish, and it's lucky!"

"Of course," Kevin sighed.

"So that's my story," Amy said lightly, turning her head back towards the ring. "What's your excuse for looking like a clown today?"

Kevin took a breath to answer her, only to find himself almost falling out of his seat as she suddenly screamed out a cheer for Terry and Wally, who had just entered the ring.

"Bloody hell woman!" he grumbled, crossing his arms moodily and leaning away from her.

Ikeman began to introduce their opponents, his voice shortly being drowned out by loud, obnoxious and offensive music. From the corner of his eye, Kevin saw Amy and the others turn in his direction to watch the first DMP tag team make their way towards the ring.

"Oh no Kevin, look!" Amy hissed, pushing at his arm.

"I know, I know," Kevin sighed. "Here come "The Anarchists"."

"They can't do that!" Kid wailed. "Can they do that Meat?"

"I guess so," Meat quietly replied.

"Kevin, you have to look!" Amy insisted, grabbing his arm with both hands and shaking him.

"What is so damn…" Kevin's voice faded as he turned towards the entering tag team and he finally realised why the others looked so concerned.

Master DJ and Wolfang were heading towards the ring, but ten steps behind them, their remaining six team-mates – led by Edward Mask himself – were following.

"Dis is a two on two, dey can't go gettin' involved," Mars pointed out.

Kevin was not so sure his brother would care about the rules, and began to suspect that he was about to make some sort of announcement about turning the match into a Lumberjack Match; which really would be disastrous. Kevin was still surprised that both groups – the Muscle League and the DMP – had made it through Edward's press conference the week before without any unsanctioned fights breaking out, especially when the girls were being held prisoner and no guarantee for their current or future safety had been offered by their captors. Edward always was a little unpredictable, and he did enjoy getting a shock reaction to anything that he did, and so Kevin had decided it was best to simply be prepared for anything and everything.

Kevin silently wondered if Amy was aware that she was still gripping onto his coat sleeve with both her hands.

"Hey wait, ain't dis fight sold out?" Mars suddenly asked, shooting forwards in his seat in alarm.

"Yeah, why d'you ask?" Meat asked casually.

"Well, dere are six empty seats right here in front of us," Mars bluntly replied, pointing at the vacated seats in question.

"You think The Anarchists are going to sit right here?" Dik Dik asked him. "Right in front of us?"

Mars did not answer Dik Dik, instead slowly sitting back in his chair, his eyes moving up to watch the tag team that were scheduled to fight enter the ring, the remaining six Devil Chojins slowly walking over to the railings.

"Shit…" Mars grumbled, covering his eyes with his hands for a moment before forcing a tight, sarcastic smile at Edward Mask as he hopped over the railings and started towards the seat directly in front of Mars.

Checkmate, Dik Dik, Jaeger, Mars, Kid and Kevin all watched quietly as their future opponents walked along the row of seats in front of them, casting them a variety of amused looks before turning around to sit down. Kevin was sure the order Edward's group had sat in was no mere coincidence; Edward was directly in front of Mars, Death Angel was sat directly in front of Kid Muscle and Fargo was sat directly in front of Kevin himself. Apparently Edward now thought of himself as some sort of clever tactician, a master of mind games, Kevin mused.

Kevin silently wondered if Amy was aware that she was gripping harder onto his coat sleeve with both her hands.

The bell rang to signify the start of the match, whereupon Wally and Terry shook hands and Terry stepped back through the ropes, allowing Wally to start the match. As soon as Terry was through the ropes both Master DJ and Wolfang charged at Wally, clothes-lining him over the top rope to the floor below.

"Hey!" Terry yelled at them. "This here is a tag match, not some dang free-for-all!"

Master DJ smirked at him, acting out a clown-like impersonation of a baby crying. Terryman shouted some words of encouragement to Wally, who gathered himself up and slid under the bottom rope, standing up in front of Master DJ, who merely signalled to him to take his best shot. Wolfang slunk back to the opposite corner of the ring, ducking out to stand on the ring apron diagonally opposite Terry, much to Terry's relief. Inside the ring, Master DJ held up his hands, challenging Wally to a test of strength, but Wally hesitated before starting to accept his offer. Before their hands touched, Wally lunged forwards to grab Master DJ into a bear-hug, but Master DJ artfully slid beneath Wally, slipping between his legs and leaping up behind him. He spun around, aiming a kick at Wally's head, but Wally had regained his senses, catching Master DJ's foot before it made contact.

"Atta boy, Wally!" Terry cheered, punching a fist into the air.

Master DJ hopped twice before spinning his other leg towards Wally's head. Again Wally caught his foot, grabbing an ankle in each hand, Wally swung Master DJ over his head, sending him crashing to the mat, face-first. Wally made to grab his opponent up again, but Master DJ predicted his move, kicking out to one side at Wally's ankle, pulling his leg from under him. Wally dropped to one knee as Master DJ jumped up onto his knees, swinging an elbow around into Wally's jaw. Wally was forced to one side, slapping a hand to the mat to stop himself from falling over completely.

"Dis ain't a wrestlin' match, it's a just a brawl," Mars muttered darkly as he watched on.

"You mean zhey fight ze same vay you do Mars?" Jaeger asked innocently.

"You son of a bitch, Jaeger," Mars grumbled.

Inside the ring, Master DJ was back on his feet, but not for long. He grabbed one of Wally's legs and slid under the bottom rope, slamming the side of Wally's knee into the corner-post.

"Hey!" Terry shouted down at him, as the post just happened to be the same one Terry was waiting at.

"Wait your turn, cowboy," Master DJ snorted at him. "Don't worry, I'll finish you off just as soon as I get done with this over-fed circus sea-lion!"

Master DJ wound Wally's leg around the post, bending it sideways as he walked around to the next side of the ring. Wally cried out, twisting around as he tried to move his leg over so that the post was rested at the back of his knee instead of the side. Master DJ quickly slid back into the ring, pulling hard on Wally's leg, twisting it round the corner-post and back into the ring.

Wally grabbed at the ring apron, pulling himself towards the corner and under the bottom rope. One more particularly sharp and forceful tug from Master DJ was enough to off-set Wally's balance, and he fell to the floor at the side of the ring. Master DJ began winding Wally's leg through the ropes next to Terry, who was watching him in a displeased manner.

"Fight fair, ya dirty varmint!" Terry eventually snapped, before punching Master DJ hard in the jaw.

Master DJ staggered back and Terry began quickly trying to untangle Wally's leg; but before he could complete his task, Wolfang dived towards him, flying over the top rope and pulling Terry with him to the floor below. Terry groaned as his back hit the unforgiving concrete surface of the Hand of Hercules, blinking against the temporary haze from the shock of pain to see a rabid werewolf snarling at his throat.

With a yelp of alarm, Terry rolled over one complete turn and leapt to his feet, skipping back from the monster before him, lowering himself into a defensive stance on instinct as he awaited his opponent's next move. As Wolfang stood up and began to advance on Terry, the two moved out of sight from the rest of their team-mates, who all anxiously turned to Terryman for guidance. He appeared to be watching the events outside the ring carefully between offering words of advice and encouragement to Wally, who was still in a bind in the ring-ropes, and so the others settled back, switching their attention back to the action inside the ring.

Edward fidgeted in his seat momentarily as Terry and Wolfang remained out of sight, his eyes fixed on Terryman, who was apparently following his son at a distance. As Terryman began to disappear from their line of sight, Edward stood abruptly, trying to catch sight of what was happening beyond the ring.

"Sit your ass down!" Mars warned him, standing up behind him and grabbing his shoulders, forcefully shoving him back down into his seat.

Edward grabbed a hand at his shoulder, catching one of Mars's hands before he could retract it. Mars froze at the contact, watching as Edward turned his head to look back over his shoulder. As their eyes met, Mars growled at Edward, narrowing his eyes in an expression of warning, but Edward appeared unfazed. Edward moved his head a little, his eyes looking at something else, though his grip on Mars's hand did not lessen. Mars slowly followed the direction Edward appeared to be looking, finding Meat, Kid, Amy and Kevin all turned in his direction, watching him carefully.

"Geddofa me!" Mars snapped, snatching his hand back and leaning back in his chair in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between himself and Edward.

Edward slowly turned back to watch the fight, and Mars stole a couple of sideward glances at Kevin to check his opinion on what had just transpired; but Kevin was watching the ring again, apparently unaffected by Edward's actions.

Back in the ring, Master DJ had expertly tied Wally's leg into the ropes, leaving him dangling upside-down. Master DJ was pulling and twisting on Wally's ankle, sharply adjusting his angle occasionally to block Wally's attempts to lift himself up and attack back. Outside the ring, Wolfang was advancing on Terryman, who was backing away from him cautiously, not wishing to get involved lest his team be disqualified from the competition.

"How about this?" Terry yelled out, leaping into the air and catching Wolfang with a flying bulldog. "A bulldog for a bully dog!"

Wolfang clattered into the unforgiving concrete, his neck twisting as he landed. Seeing that he had successfully incapacitated Wolfang, Terry turned to Wally, pausing to take in his prone position before slapping a hand on Wally's shoulder and shouting "tag".

Master DJ released Wally, turning around in confusion, only managing to partially block the drop-kick Terry delivered from over the top rope. Terry quickly untangled Wally, who managed to stop himself from falling completely to the floor below, landing in an awkward crouch instead. But as Terry finished freeing Wally, Master DJ attacked him from behind, catching his head with a spinning kick that sent Terry into the corner. Master DJ made to pounce onto Terry, but Terry quickly lifted his leg, kicking his heel into the underside of Master DJ's chin.

"Y'all ain't nothin' but amateurs!" Terry yelled at him. "This here is how we do it in the Muscle League!"

Terry grabbed Master DJ's wrist, tugging him around and setting him up for the Bronco Buster.

"Finish him off!" his father encouraged from outside the ring.

"Well I guess dat skinny little brat ain't gotten any stronger…" Mars muttered.

"What would you know about strategy, scarface?" Edward said quietly.

"More'n you do," Mars confidently replied. "Watch dis real close, cause after all my team beats all yous idiots, you gotta face me in da ring."

"I look forward to it," Edward calmly answered him.

Mars frowned at the back of Edward's head, silently wondering why he was acting uncharacteristically calm, confident and in control. A second later Mars caught Sprite grinning at him over his shoulder and he hurriedly corrected his expression into a dark, warning glare.

In the ring, Terry crushed Master DJ to the mat with his famous signature move, the Bronco Buster, his father and Wally cheering for him from his corner. Kid Muscle started to laugh, but stopped as he saw Meat solemnly shaking his head.

"This ain't over yet Kid," he said darkly.

"Wh-what?" Kid echoed, staring at Meat with wide, frightened eyes.

Kid turned back to the ring, screaming as Wolfang flew up over the top rope, diving at Terry. With inhuman speed he bit into Terry's left leg at the back of his knee, clamping down his jaws until Terry let out an involuntary scream of pain and shock.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Wally complained from the corner.

"Yeah, that's not fair, Terry had them beat!" Dik Dik said, standing up from his seat.

"I hope you don't take losing quite so badly when it's your turn to fall at the hands of The Anarchists," Edward sneered over his shoulder at Dik Dik.

"Hey, dis really ain't fair," Mars said, standing up. "Dis is a wrestling match, not some animal freak show! What da hell is dat guy anyways?"

"You can talk!" Sprite scoffed, leaping up and turning to face Mars. "You've got a walrus in that ring and a reindeer sitting right there!"

"I am not a reindeer!" Dik Dik argued back, waving a fist at Sprite. "And you have a wolf, a cat, a jellyfish and a traffic sign on your team!"

"And you have a fat hairy seal, a stupid antelope, a loud-mouthed bird and a chess set on yours!" Sprite growled.

"Okay toots, don't get your panties in a twist!" Mars said, smirking in spite of himself.

"Back off, scarface!" Edward snapped, standing up and rounding on Mars.

"Shouldn't you be goin' through puberty somewhere right about now?" Mars replied.

"I'm going to remember all of this tonight when I get my hands on Kiki…" Edward growled in a low voice.

Mars made as though to answer him, but instead grabbed Edward's shirt.

"Mars, don't do it!" Jaeger pleaded, standing up at his side. "He is just trying to make you angry! Don't let him do it!"

Mars hesitated, his grip lessening on Edward's DMP T-shirt.

"When dis is all over, I'ma hunt you down, and I'ma kill you," Mars quietly warned Edward. "And if I find out you hurt my girl, I'ma kill you by the slowest, most painful way I know how."

Mars roughly released Edward, nodding once at Jaeger before sitting back down. Jaeger sat down at his side, and Dik Dik and Sprite slowly followed, until only Edward remained standing.

"Assuming of course that I don't finish you off first, when we face in the ring…" Edward said smugly, before spinning around and sitting back down.

"Oh, you gotta be-" Mars began, stopping as Jaeger grabbed his arm.

Mars turned to Jaeger, who gave a small shake of his head. Mars reluctantly sat back, grumbling curses as he let out a deep sigh.

In the ring, Terry had dragged himself to the ropes and was trying to pull himself upright, wrapping his arms into the ropes, Wolfang all the while tenaciously hanging onto his leg. Once he had managed to get himself to the top rope, Terry leaned his weight onto the ropes and lifted his free foot, kicking Wolfang in the face.

"Again! Show him no mercy!" Terryman called to him. "Remember you're fightin' a Devil Chojin now son!"

Terry nodded his understanding, sitting back into the ropes to allow him to kick repeatedly at Wolfang's face. The heel of his boot connected a few times with Wolfang's eye, and Terry began to feel Wolfang's bite lessen.

"Get up and fight me proper, ya mangy mutt!" Terry snarled at him in frustration.

"Terry!" Kid Muscle yelled out, standing up from his seat.

The others sitting around Kid turned to watch him curiously, wondering exactly what he was about to say, most of them eying him in a way that indicated they were predicting something ludicrous to follow.

"Terry, dog's can't look up!" Kid called. "Lift your leg, he'll have to let go!"

Meat blinked at Kid in amazement.

"What?" Kid asked him as he sat back down. "I had to learn when the neighbour's Doberman kept biting me."

Meat slowly nodded, looking around himself to confirm that the others were as surprised at Kid's insight as he was.

Terry hooked his arms over the top rope and swung his free leg up into the air, his caught leg following with the momentum of his body, forcing Wolfang's head upwards. For a moment the two wrestlers were suspended, Terry balancing himself on his shoulders over the ropes in a modified handstand and Wolfang's neck twisted as he tried to retain his hold. Terry began to think he might not be able to hold his position, but suddenly the pressure from his left leg was released, and he spun over the top rope completely, landing on the ring apron, facing the audience.

"Alright Terry!" Wally cheered.

Terry saluted Kid, who was too busy inspecting something he had just extracted from his nostril to notice.

Master DJ shot forwards, kicking through the ropes into the bite wound his team-mate had created in the back of Terry's leg, which buckled on instinct. Terry stumbled ungracefully off the ring apron, tensing as his weight landed on his injured leg.

"Tag!" Wally yelled, slapping Terry on the shoulder and jumping into the ring to face Wolfang himself.

Wally began tackling Wolfang, but Master DJ did not stop his assault on Terry Kenyon. Outside the ring, Master DJ kicked into Terry's wound again, sending him to his knees.

"Turntable Snap!" he cried.

"What?" Terry yelped.

Master DJ grabbed his hands onto either side of Terry's head from behind and he leapt into the air, turning into a handstand from Terry's head. In mid-air he spun his legs around before landing in front of Terry, twisting Terry's neck around and bringing his head crashing down to the concrete.

"Terry!" Wally cried, running over to check on Terry. "What have you done?" he demanded, pointing at Master DJ.

"I was just making music," Master DJ replied with a smirk. "You wanna join in?"

Wally watched curiously as Master DJ raised his fists to either side of his head, the records at his wrists starting to spin.

"Get outta there boy!" Terryman warned, waving for Wally to move.

But Terryman's warning came a little too late as Master DJ hopped up onto the ring apron and slashed his hands at Wally, the spinning discs on his wrists cutting two gashes over his chest. Wally staggered back, touching a hand to the wounds in shock, barely noticing Master DJ climbing the ropes.

"Wally!" Terryman yelled. "Pay attention!"

Wally looked up abruptly, gasping as he saw Master DJ leap off the tope rope, aiming his wrists for Wally's neck. Wally side-stepped out of his range, catching him by the waist and spinning around to slam him hard to the mat on his back. As Wally started to move, Wolfang dived towards him, biting into his shoulder, the two heavyweights rolling to one side.

Outside the ring, Terry had managed to drag himself to his feet, and as he saw Master DJ creeping towards Wally and Wolfang, he hurriedly pulled himself under the bottom rope, back into the ring.

"Oh no you don't!" he said, charging at Master DJ and taking him off his feet with a clothesline.

Terry started towards Wolfang in an attempt to get him off of Wally, but Master DJ caught him with a sweeping kick, tripping him over. Terry hurriedly grabbed a hand forwards, managing to secure a hold of one of Wolfang's ankles. He grabbed on with his other hand before pulling back with both hands, trying with all his strength to pull him off of Wally. Behind him, Master DJ got to his feet and stamped a foot down onto Terry's injury, grinding his heel into the wound. Terry cried out on instinct, releasing his hold of Wolfang.

Wally had wrapped his arms around Wolfang's shoulders and managed to manoeuvre out from under him. He pushed down on Wolfang's shoulders with all his strength whilst lifting his head away from Wolfang in the hope of breaking his hold as Terry had done earlier. Unfortunately, he could not get a steep enough angle to make Wolfang open his jaws, and only succeeded in tearing his skin against Wolfang's teeth.

"Come on boys, fight back!" Terryman shouted, smacking a hand against the ring mat.

Terry hardened his resolve, turning as best he could and kicking out blindly with his good leg. He felt his foot clip Master DJ's leg, but his attack was not forceful enough to get his opponent off. Mustering up all his strength, Terry kicked out again, this time his heel connecting with Master DJ's shin with a resounding clunk that made him stagger back. Terry hurriedly turned over, getting to his feet as Master DJ came at him again, staggering to meet him in the middle of the ring. Terry ducked under Master DJ's arm as he attempted a clothesline, grabbing him into an abdominal stretch.

Wolfang tugged back suddenly on Wally, biting further into his skin before tugging in jerking motions, tearing at the skin and flesh of Wally's shoulder. Wally began to panic as he was dragged around the ring, leaving a red smear where he passed. He tried punching and kicking at Wolfang, but nothing was as effective as Kid's suggested method for getting Wolfang to open his bite. Seeing his struggle, Terry dropped Master DJ and leapt onto Wolfang's back, grabbing his arms around his neck, pressing his knees into the small of Wolfang's back and leaning back, using the weight of his body and all his strength to bend Wolfang's neck backwards.

Wally sighed out in relief as Wolfang let go, only to gasp in shock again as Wolfang violently shook Terry off and leapt around to bite into Terry's right thigh. Wolfang stood up to his fullest height, Terry dangling from his jaws. He turned towards the corner Terryman was stood in and began shaking his head from side to side, tossing Terry around as though he were a rag-doll. After the first few shakes Wolfang edged closer to the corner and Terry's head clanged off the corner-post, eliciting a collective gasp and hiss of discomfort from the audience.

"Terry!" Trixie screamed, reaching a hand through the bars of her cage as she stared down at the ring with wide, terrified eyes. "Terry, no! Stop it you dirty mongrel, you'll kill him!"

Wally started towards the corner in an attempt to aid his team-mate, but was stopped short by Master DJ, who slashed at his back with one hand, the disc on his wrist tearing a gash diagonally over Wally's back. Wally arched away from him on instinct, and Master DJ hooked an arm around Wally's neck, yanking him down in an inverted bulldog to the mat to land hard on his newly wounded back. Wally opened his eyes to see Master DJ diving at him and he tried to roll out of harm's way, wincing as a disc sliced into his arm.

"This is terrible…" Meat said quietly as he watched the action with unblinking eyes.

"He'll kill Terry!" Kid screamed, grabbing Meat into an embrace.

"I can't believe they're dominating this match!" Amy whispered, her fingers worrying the material of Kevin's coat sleeve. "Any minute now Terry and Wally are going to turn this around, right?" she asked, looking up at Kevin.

"This isn't a Disney movie you fool, this is wrestling," Kevin snorted at her.

"But if they keep this up, they really will kill Terry!" Amy hissed.

"And then they win," Kevin plainly replied.

"Oh…" she whispered.

Kevin wondered if she knew she was still hanging onto his arm, and had not released it since the start of the fight.

Wolfang was still beating an increasingly limp Terry against the corner-post, and Wally was still trying to block Master DJ's slashing attacks, his arms taking most of the damage as he tried to duck and dodge. In a desperate attempt to shift the direction of the match into his team's favour, Wally shot at Master DJ, grabbing him into a bear hug and staggering back with him before flipping him over the top rope in a suplex Wally quickly ran at Wolfang, who saw his approach and flung Terry out of the ring, turning to meet Wally head-on.

"Terry!" Trixie screamed, her voice breaking hysterically as she watched his limp form crumple against the concrete.

Terryman hurried over to his son, calling his name and trying to revive him, be mindful not to touch or move too close to Terry in case of a disqualification. Back in the ring, Wolfang and Wally were battling in a test of strength, which Wally appeared to be winning, as Wolfang was slowly losing ground, being forced towards the ropes, his feet slipping gradually backwards.

Above their heads, Trixie was becoming frantic, her hair flicking about her face as she glanced back and forth between the fight directly below and Terry's motionless form outside the ring. Her attention finally settled on the fight in the ring as something caught her eye.

"Wally!" she cried out. "Look out behind you!"

Wally glanced over his shoulder, sighting Master DJ hopping back into the ring; but his momentary lapse in concentration cost him as Wolfang finally over-powered him, twisting him around and locking his arms behind his back. Wally tried to kick back to get Wolfang off his back, but he quickly realised his efforts would be better focussed on the threat immediately in front of him, as Master DJ was approaching him with an enormous grin plastered on his face, revealing a gold tooth near the back of his jaw. He held up his hands and brought the lethally sharp spinning discs up to Wally's torso.

"Somebody do something!" Trixie begged desperately.

Terryman made one last attempt to revive Terry before jogging back to the ring to assess Wally's situation; which, he had to admit, looked pretty bleak.

"Find a weakness in his hold and get outta there, kid!" he called to Wally.

Wally tried struggling against Wolfang, but before he could find any way to free his arms, he felt the discs on Master DJ's arms cut into the skin on his chest.

"Come on Wally, don't give up, you can break that hold!" Terryman encouraged.

Wally tried to focus his mind on freeing his arms, focusing all his energy on escaping. Just as Master DJ's cuts began to reach his gut, Wally managed to free his left arm, which he quickly used to his advantage, swinging back his elbow at Wolfang's jaw. Wolfang however predicted his move and opened his mouth, catching Wally's elbow into a bite that burst into his skin as readily as the discs on Master DJ's wrists had.

"Time to finish off another do-gooder!" Master DJ said with a smirk, lifting one wrist towards Wally's throat.

"Hey now, there ain't no need for that!" Terryman yelled at him.

"Orders from the boss are to finish the Muscle League," Master DJ called back to him. "We've taken care of the cowboy already, now I'm taking home a trophy to hang on my wall… Wally Tusket's head!"

Master DJ thrust his arm forwards, the disc cutting into Wally's neck, Wally's mouth opened, but the sound that came out was strangulated, a burst of blood shooting upwards as more blood slipping over the sides of his mouth.

"Stop it!" Terryman shouted, leaping up onto the ring apron.

Trixie whimpered and the audience gasped in awe as a white cotton towel frittered through the air, softly landing in the centre of the ring, next to Master DJ's feet.

"You surrender?" Master DJ asked him.

"Yes damnit, now let him go!" Terryman replied.

"I don't think so, old man," Master DJ calmly replied. "The rules say any move that is in progress when a submission is made must be completed before the match can end. Shoulda thought of that before you threw in the towel."

"Hey come on now, this ain't fair!" Meat yelled, standing up abruptly and waving a fist at The Anarchists sat in front of him. "The match is over, you won, you beat the Muscle League, you don't have anything else to prove here today!"

"We didn't come here to prove anything," Edward Mask calmly replied. "We came here to destroy you. All of you."

Edward turned to glare at his elder brother, who merely returned his glower with an impassive look.

"Call your dog off Eddie, or dere's gonna be trouble," Mars warned Edward.

"Oh really?" Edward echoed with a bored sigh.

"Yeah, really!" Mars insisted.

"Well it's quite simple scarface: if you make trouble for us, we'll make trouble for your girls…"

Edward pulled what looked like a remote from his jean pocket, pointing it at the ring and pressing a red button. Trixie howled out in terror as one of the chains her cage was suspended by snapped loose, causing the cage to bounce around. She tried to maintain her balance, but ended up collapsing to one side and bashing her nose against her own knee, drawing blood.

"He's making us chose between Wally and Trixie?" Kid asked anyone who cared to listen.

"Come on Edward, call your boys off!" Meat demanded. "This is goin' too far!"

"If I go soft on you now, it might give the others the wrong impression about the next three fights, wouldn't you say?" Edward asked, looking back at Meat.

"Let him go already!" Terryman yelled again at Master DJ and Wolfang.

"Yeah, let him go!" Meat added.

Master DJ turned to Edward expectantly.

"Boss…?" he asked, pausing his actions, his disc still embedded into the surface of Wally's neck.

"Stick to the plan," Edward said firmly, drawing his thumb across his throat.

"No!" Jaeger cried, standing up and aiming to jump over the railings.

"Hold it," Hydrazoa warned, rising in front of him, catching one of Jaeger's arms in a tight grasp.

"Vot are you doing?" Jaeger asked him. "Don't you remember vot ve learned at ze Hercules Factory?"

"This is stupid," Dik Dik grumbled, bounding over the railings before anyone could stop him.

"I concur!" Checkmate added, leaping after him.

Mars stood to follow them, but Edward stood up in front of him, turning to face him directly.

"I already told you: no stupid moves!" Edward warned, pointing the remote over his shoulder.

A second chain, adjacent to the first, snapped open, causing the front of the cage to dip down, the back two corners being the only part still supported.

"Release da whole thing, Bambi and Checkers can catch her!" Mars said. "Or did you forget about dat?"

Edward paused, bringing a confident smirk to Mars's face. Dik Dik had reached the ring, instantly throwing himself at Master DJ, taking them both to the mat. Checkmate leapt in to wrestle Wolfang from Wally, who was barely conscious, literally drowning in his own blood.

"You always did underestimate me, scarface," Edward said plainly, pressing another button on the remote.

Trixie's cage swung violently outwards, over the heads of the audience and beyond the palm of the Hand of Hercules, until it was suddenly dangling above the bare ground thousands of feet below the entire hand. Edward then pressed the red button again, a third chain snapping off, leaving the cage spinning and bouncing around on just a single chain. Edward turned his head to look back at Trixie and then at the events unfolding inside the ring.

"I said no interference," he said darkly, turning back to Mars. "I thought you Muscle League losers were all about playing by the rules and abiding by a code of honour. Apparently not. If you aren't going to play fair then why should I?"

Edward moved his thumb over the red button again, pointing the remote at Trixie's cage.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **An ugly fallout from the end of the first tournament match and a loss for the Muscle League leads to the remaining Justice Chojins being forced to rethink their own strategies for fighting The Anarchists. **Chapter 8 – Regroup**. 


	8. Regroup

**A/N:** I'm feeling very artistic ATM, so there are even some fanarts for this on my DA account (link on my profile page under the "Homepage" bit).

**Recap:** Wally Tusket and Terry Kenyon took on Master DJ and Wolfang in the first Tag Team match of the Bad Blood Tournament, but found their opponents to be stronger than anticipated, and lost the match. Edward Mask instructed his team-mates to take Wally's head as a trophy, but the Muscle League leapt in to prevent it, which angered Edward who in turn threatened to take Trixie's life.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Regroup**

"I said no interference," Edward said darkly, turning back to Mars. "I thought you Muscle League losers were all about playing by the rules and abiding by a code of honour. Apparently not. If you aren't going to play fair then why should I?"

Edward moved his thumb over the red button again, pointing the remote at Trixie's cage. Mars grabbed Edward's hand, attempting to snap it apart to take the remote. Edward pulled back from his reach, but Jaeger managed to snatch the remote with his free hand, passing it to Mars.

"Not so tough now, huh?" Mars mocked, waving the remote in Edward's face.

At Edward's side, Hydrazoa cleared his throat, drawing Mars's attention. Mars baulked as he saw that Hydrazoa also held a remote for the cage. Turning back to look down the line at the other four Anarchists, he saw them all casually holding up copies of the remote.

"Dis ain't even funny no more," Mars muttered under his breath.

"It's not meant to be funny, scarface!" Edward snapped. "But I think the girl will keep for now. Sprite, take her in."

Sprite held up his remote, pressing some buttons to drag the Trixie's cage back over the Hand of Hercules. She was openly sobbing, her hands grabbing through the bars as she passed over where Terry lay.

"Don't be stupid, Eddie," Mars grunted. "What're you gonna do wid a girl, huh? Why don't ya just let her go?"

"The deal was, if you win, we release the girls," Edward said, his voice a little too slow and a little too loud for Mars's liking. "But you lost this time, so therefore you do not get the girl back!"

Edward sighed, his shoulders slouching a little with his action.

"I think we've proved our point, and we will do it again in two days' time when Hydrazoa and Road Rage crush weiner boy and Bambi," he concluded. "Men, let's go."

The Anarchists started filing out of their seats, Hydrazoa released Jaeger's arm, and Wolfang and Master DJ retreated from their altercations in the ring with Dik Dik and Checkmate. The Muscle League group stood to watch The Anarchists leave, an anxious Meat standing between them muttering to himself and wringing his hands together at the prospect of another potential outburst of fighting between the two groups.

"Dis is stupid," Mars muttered again once The Anarchists had gone.

"You're telling me," Kevin agreed.

"It's not stupid for me, they've got my wife!" Kid complained.

"You shut-up, you're too scared to fight to get her back anyways," Mars snapped at him.

"Don't you want Kiki back?" Kid asked him.

"Of course I do, but if dis is how dey wanna fight, I'ma go find where dey hide out and take da girls back myself!" Mars replied.

"You can do that?" Kid asked, smiling optimistically.

"No," Kevin warned. "If any of you want those girls back alive and in one piece, I suggest you just play Edward's little game."

"Vot about Trixie?" Jaeger asked, looking over at the ring as Dik Dik and Checkmate helped the paramedics load Terry and Wally onto stretchers.

"Once we win back the other three girls, we can force their hand to release her too," Kevin simply replied.

"And what if we don't win the other girls back?" Kid asked meekly.

"Dere ain't no way Eddie Mask is beatin' me in a wrestlin' match!" Mars yelled at him. "Alls you gotta do is beat a skeleton and a fairy, and your girl will be safe, capisce?"

"I'm getting out of here," Kevin announced. "If nothing else, today has shown me The Anarchists are not as weak as we thought they were, and I think we should all be using this time to train a little harder for our own fights."

"Is that an order as you from as our leader, or is it just a suggestion?" Kid asked, grinning up at him sweetly.

"In your case Kid, it's an order!" Kevin barked at him.

"Damn…" Kid muttered.

Kevin turned to leave, stiffening as something held him back. Turning to look down at his arm, he saw that Amy was still clinging to him, as she had been since she had first sighted his brother's gang heading towards them. He cleared his throat to get her attention, nodding his head in the direction of her hands as she looked his way.

"What?" she muttered, her face creasing questioningly.

Kevin opened his mouth to explain, but just then Dik Dik and Checkmate rejoined them.

"It's not good," Dik Dik informed them. "Terry is out cold and completely unresponsive, and Wally is going to have some nasty scars. They carved their name into his chest."

Amy and Kid Muscle yelped in horror.

"Th-their name?" Kid echoed.

"Well… Their initials, actually…" Dik Dik said slowly, scratching at the back of his head, his eyes wandering to the railings, which he suddenly found very interesting.

"Ah, hell no!" Mars began. "You mean dey left Wally wid a scar dat says "TA"?"

"Yeah…" Dik Dik said slowly, a small trace of a smile tugging at his lips. "Which is terrible, right?"

"Terribly funny!" Kid blurted, laughing out loud.

Mars allowed himself a small chuckle, before shaking his head as he attempted to look solemn. Kevin looked down at Amy curiously as she snorted out laughter, turning her head to look away from Kid.

"TA," Kevin said slowly. "The Anarchists."

"A little unfortunate that it also stands for something else though…" Dik Dik said carefully, causing Mars to laugh a little again.

"Hey, come on now, this is a guy's life we're talkin' about here boys, be serious!" Meat scolded them.

"TA!" Jaeger giggled.

"Took you long enough," Mars muttered to him.

"TA!" Kid howled, slapping Meat on the back as he continued to laugh shamelessly.

"I thought TA only meant something in Britain," Kevin commented.

"Um, no!" Mars corrected him.

"TA," Kevin said slowly. "Territorial Army, right?"

Amy burst out laughing, finally releasing her hold of Kevin to hide herself behind Kid Muscle as she began laughing as hard as Kid was.

"Territorial Army?" Mars echoed loudly. "Kev, what da hell is wrong wid you? Why would dat be funny?"

"Well, I'm not aware of TA standing for anything else other than Territorial Army or The Anarchists!" Kevin defended himself.

"You're as dumb as your brother," Mars sighed, shaking his head. "I'll tell ya what it means when you grow up, Kev."

"We have more important things to concern ourselves with right now!" Kevin snapped, trying to sound diginifed.

"Dork!" Kid muttered through a giggle as he followed Kevin out from their seats.

Kevin looked back over his shoulder to see Kid and Amy still laughing at him; but a glance further down the row showed him Jaeger and Mars biting back laughter too. He sighed and shook his head, turning his nose up in the air and marching on ahead of them. He had far more pressing things on his mind, like his resentful younger brother and his ruthless DMP recruits. He would need to devise a strategy, and he would need to work with Mars on that, since they would be fighting as a team, and the display Kevin had just witnessed had shown him that Edward was not really intending to participate in tag team matches but rather two versus two free-for-alls. On top of all that, Edward and his friends still had one of the girls that should have been released by now, and Kevin had no doubt that the others on his team would moan on about that until they had devised a way to get the girl back.

And finally, Kevin really had to find an Internet café before closing time; after several arguments with Kiki over various things in and around the Mask Estate, Kiki had pushed him in the direction of a website called Wikipedia where he could learn about things the others cared so much about, like pop music, silly films and unusual words; and this time to find what "hilarious" definition his team attached to the initials TA.

* * *

"Trixie! What the hell?"

Roxanne stuck her head out the window-frame, her face distorting through a variety of shocked, confused and angered expressions as she watched eight figures in black return, marching Trixie along with them.

"What is it, Roxanne?" Kiki pleaded.

"Come on Roxanne, spill it!" Jacqueline demanded shifting her weight a little to help support Roxanne, who was sat on her shoulders.

"Kevin Mask's brother and his little gang are on their way back here," Roxanne said, turning to look down at Kiki and Jacqueline. "And they've got Trixie with them!"

"What?" Kiki echoed, tears welling in her eyes. "How can that be?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jacqueline snapped. "Obviously they cheated and stole her back! If they aren't going to play by the rules, we won't ever get out of here!"

"I don't think that's it, Jack," Roxanne said quietly, sticking her head back out the hole in the wall. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Oh no, you think those DMP guys actually won?" Kiki asked.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Jacqueline scoffed.

"Well I guess we're about to find out…" Roxanne said, pulling herself back inside the rundown old stone hut they had been left in.

Jacqueline crouched down, allowing Roxanne to slip off her shoulders, before rising once more to stand alongside the others as they listened to the sound of voices and footsteps growing closer. Roxanne silently took hold of Kiki's hand, offering her a smile of encouragement. When she turned back to the door, she saw Jacqueline's hand at her other side. Roxanne smiled warmly, taking hold of Jacqueline's hand, feeling a little more reassured having friends at either side of her.

"Watch the hair!" Trixie snapped as she was shoved into the room.

"What's going on?" Roxanne demanded, stepping forwards, searching the group for their leader. "Why is Trixie back here?"

Roxanne began to squeeze onto Kiki and Jacqueline's hands as she saw that their captors were once more swathed in their black hooded robes, making it almost impossible to distinguish who was who between them. She had been unsure why they bothered hiding their identities at first, but Roxanne had quickly learned that Edward Mask seemingly had a love of dramatics, and this was just another way for him to create tension and mystery.

"Trixie?" Kiki said softly. "Are you okay?"

"No," Trixie muttered, straightening and dusting off her clothing. "They're monsters… All of them!"

Trixie rounded on the Devil Chojins behind her, scowling at them from behind a veil of barely contained tears.

"Power is often mistakenly categorised as a failing in character," Edward's voice answered her from beneath one of the robes. "I, however, disagree."

"You're a dick!" Trixie boldly yelled back. "You're nothing compared to your brother! He won the Chojin Crown, what have you ever done, apart from pick on a group of girls, who you out-number two to one?"

"Trixie!" Roxanne hissed behind her, her anxiety spiking as she felt Kiki take a step back at her side.

Roxanne felt her knees tremble a little as her emotions began to war inside her head. One part of her wanted to run across the room and join Trixie in her rebellion, but the other part of her was terrified to move, especially after Trixie had just made such a bold and insulting attack on the ring-leader of their captors.

"Let me take care of this one," one of the figures in black offered, stepping into the room towards Trixie.

Trixie defiantly stood her ground, even though the figure approaching her was the second tallest of the group, and probably four times her weight.

"Stand down Fargo," Edward said, his words stopping the cloaked figure's advance on Trixie. "I think I can handle this one."

"You sure you wanna get your hands dirty, boss?" the one in front of Trixie asked.

"It's fine," Edward assured him.

The tall figure in front of Trixie backed off, and another almost as tall approached her, whipping back his hood as he came to a stop in front of her.

"You dirty rat!" Trixie growled out, glaring up at Edward's masked face as it was revealed in front of her.

"It would be wise for you to learn to like me, girl," Edward answered her, his tone flat and cryptically bland. "Or at least to show me a little more respect. After all, since your beloved Terry Kenyon didn't care enough for you to fight for you, it looks like you'll be spending the rest of your pathetic little life right here with me."

"Terry does care and he did fight!" Trixie argued back, tears slipping down her face despite her attempts to remain strong. "He only lost the match because your nasty little friend and his dog cheated!"

"He didn't fight very hard though, did he?" Edward sneered. "Surely if he cared, he would have fought with everything he had. Perhaps you weren't watching the fight as closely as you should have been, so allow me to fill you in: my men wiped the floor with Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket, with very little resistance, and Terry's father threw in the towel."

"He had to throw in the towel, your goons were about to cut Wally's head off!"

"Yes, Wally tried to defend himself I suppose, but never really displayed any meaningful offence. Terry on the other hand fell down and didn't bother getting back up."

"But that's because you…"

"We've all seen Terry survive much worse and carry on fighting. What was his excuse tonight?"

Trixie faltered for a moment, drawing in a shuddering breath as more tears blurred her eyes.

"But…" she began weakly.

"Actually, I appear to have done you a favour," Edward said, his voice suddenly softer. "Because now you know that Terry Kenyon doesn't really care that much about you. Just think, you might have actually married that man, and been treated terribly. I've saved you from a life of misery."

"Living with you until we die is the most miserable life for any of us!" Roxanne blurted out, unable to contain herself when she saw flickers of recognition and understanding pass over Trixie's features.

"On the contrary, as soon as this whole mess is over and The Anarchists have destroyed the Muscle League, we will rule this planet," Edward corrected her. "And when we have access to an entire world of wealth and opportunity, we will be able to give you anything want."

Roxanne muttered out a noise of confusion, but Edward ignored her, turning back to Trixie.

"Dear girl, did Terry ever offer you a life in a world of opulence?" he asked her.

"I don't know what that means!" Trixie sobbed.

"It means a life where you will want for nothing," Edward patiently explained. "Because if you join us now, I will see to it that you want for nothing after we take over the world."

Edward gently placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder. She flinched at the contact at first, looking down at his hand to assess its purpose before allowing herself to look into his eyes again.

"How do I know that I can trust you? You haven't exactly treated me like a princess so far," she said.

"Trixie, don't be fooled by him!" Roxanne yelped. "He doesn't mean a word of what he says, he's just using you to get at the Muscle League! Don't fall for it, Trixie! Think about Terry!"

Trixie paused, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"I've seen Terry fight harder against tougher wrestlers," she said slowly, looking up at Edward again.

"That's right," Edward said softly, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We gave him time to train for this fight, but still he was weak. It's obvious he didn't care enough to win."

"Trixie, don't listen to this crap!" Jacqueline shouted confidently. "Because the day after tomorrow, Jaeger and Dik Dik are going to crush two of these guys, and when they do, I will be free, and I'll take you with me!"

"Ah yes, Jaeger and Dik Dik Van Dik…" Edward said slowly, tilting his head as though in a thoughtful expression. "You are confident they will beat my men? That is of course assuming that Dik Dik Van Dik – who has pretty poor track record – can actually pull off a win, and that Jaeger cares more about a girl he just met than his two good friends and allies, Hydrazoa and Road Rage."

"What?" Jacqueline whispered, her confidence waning a little as a frown crept over her features.

"Can a Hercules Factory graduate forget his teachings about "The Power of Friendship" in order to win the affections of a girl he has never had any interest in prior to the day we kidnapped her…" Edward said slowly, rubbing at the base of his mask where his chin was.

Jacqueline opened her mouth, but, to Roxanne's utter horror, it appeared that Jacqueline was, for the first time in her life, speechless.

"Time will tell, I suppose," Edward said with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders as though they had been talking about something as frivolous as the weather.

Edward turned to his cohorts and waved a hand at them, upon which they all turned and filed out of the room. As Edward himself reached the doorway he paused, waving a finger in the air as though an idea had just occurred to him.

"We're feeling rather chipper this evening and thought we might celebrate our first, of what we expect to be many, victory over the Muscle League," he began slowly, turning slightly in Trixie's direction. "Would you care to join us, Miss Maekawa?"

Trixie stared at him in silence, her eyes widened and her mouth hanging open in an unrestrained expression of her surprise at his offer.

"Only if you want to, of course," Edward added when she did not answer him. "After all, I just promised you that a life with us would mean a life where you could have whatever you wanted, so I would be nothing more than a liar if I forced you to do something you did not want to do. And Trixie my dear I am nothing if I am not a man of my word."

"Okay," Trixie agreed, walking towards him.

"Trixie, no!" Roxanne screeched.

"Trixie, have you gone crazy?" Kiki squeaked.

"It beats sitting in here listening to you lot cry and thinking about how horrible tonight was," Trixie snapped back at them. "And besides, Edward says really nice things really well. He's kinda like Kevin was before he got all… Uptight."

"But Trixie…" Roxanne whispered, watching in unbridled disbelief as Edward stepped back to hold the door for Trixie, who gladly walked through it without so much as a backward glance at her friends.

"Cheer up, Miss McMadd," Edward said to Jacqueline as he made to close the door. "I would be happy of your company if you will join us the day after tomorrow when the Muscle League takes another loss at the hands of the DMP."

Edward pulled the door shut before anyone could answer him, bolting it into place.

"Oh my God!" Kiki wailed, once she was confident Edward would be out of ear-shot. "Can you believe Trixie went with them? What the heck happened out there tonight?"

Roxanne slowly shook her head.

"I don't know, but you know how Trixie is, she can be a bit temperamental sometimes, once she calms down I'm sure she'll get herself away from Edward and his stupid little gang," Roxanne said.

"What if Jaeger and Dik Dik do lose to The Anarchists?" Jacqueline asked quietly. "The sensible thing for a girl to do is to align herself with the strongest man. If Edward's group are-"

"Stop that!" Roxanne scolded her. "Don't be ridiculous! We can't let Edward's little mind games wear us down, we need to stick together on this!"

"Who are you trying to convince, us or yourself?" Jacqueline scoffed, roughing pulling her hand from Roxanne's and stomping over to a darkened corner of the room.

Roxanne watched her go, trying to suppress the panic that was starting to mount inside her, building up layer by layer with every new twist in events and threatening to overwhelm her.

"I believe in the Muscle League, Roxanne," Kiki whispered to her, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "I know Jaeger and Dik Dik will win, and Kid never lets you down, and Mars would never let me down either."

Roxanne nodded her head, afraid to put her answer into words, as she was distinctly aware that the unwavering confidence she had held the Muscle League in earlier that day had taken a knock and diminished every so slightly, allowing a small element of doubt to brood in her thoughts. She blanked out the "what if" questions that were starting to hatch in the back of her mind, focussing instead on Kid's reliability to give his all in a fight that really mattered, and Kiki's apparent blind faith in Mars.

* * *

Kevin shifted his eyes to Kid Muscle as he dragged his feet in the direction of where Kevin and the others were sat.

"So?" Dik Dik asked Kid before he reached them. "What's the situation?"

"They said Wally will be fine to leave tomorrow," Kid replied. "But Terry hasn't really woken up yet. He did ask for Trixie a few times, but he's sleeping now, and the doctors said that was probably the best thing for him."

"Vill Vally come to our match tomorrow?" Jaeger asked carefully.

Kid shrugged his shoulders.

"He said he wants to, so maybe, I guess," Kid replied.

Kevin cleared his throat a little louder than he had meant to, suppressing the urge to argue with any of his team-mates. It had been almost a full day since Wally and Terry had lost to The Anarchists, and since that time, Kevin had not seen anyone else attempt to train for their own upcoming challenges. Dik Dik and Jaeger were scheduled to fight in less than twenty hours, and they were both sitting in the hospital fussing over their fallen comrades. Kevin was a little sceptical that they might be using their "Power of Friendship" nonsense as an excuse to slack off, when they ought to have stepped up their endeavours after witnessing the catastrophe of the night before.

"So…" Dik Dik said slowly, lowering his eyes to the floor. "Any ideas what might have happened to Trixie since last night?"

The others all turned sharply in his direction, eying him with a variety of expressions, unspoken questions burrowing worry lines around their features.

"Kevin?" Dik Dik said, his eyes moving to Kevin, his voice sounding a little false and strained. "You know them better than we do."

"I know dem all better'n anybody here," Mars cut in before Kevin could answer. "And I don't reckon dey would kill Trixie, if dat's what yous is thinkin'."

"Very tactful…" Dik Dik muttered under his breath.

"Tactful?" Mars echoed, rounding on him. "We ain't got time for pretty words here, Bambi!"

"I agree with Mars," Kevin offered, hoping to diffuse any potential altercation between Mars and Dik Dik, who were still less than good friends after their fight over Kiki four years earlier. "The girls are too useful to Edward, he wouldn't kill them. You have more need to concern yourselves about how he will use the girls and your affections for them as weapons against us."

"Last night was a complete and utter f…" Mars began, stopping himself as he spotted a group of hospital staff walking by. "It was a disaster," he corrected himself, turning to Meat for support. "We all gotta step up our game, right?"

"Right!" Meat agreed.

"Does that mean training harder?" Kid asked.

"For you, it means trainin' period," Mars answered him. "Cause I don't see you bustin' your ass figurin' out how you're gonna beat dese guys."

"I can't!" Kid protested. "I don't know anything about them!"

"I already told you all everything I know about dese guys!" Mars snapped.

"We hath worked upon a plan," Checkmate assured Mars. "I hath some recollection of these fellows myself, after all."

"Good," Mars growled. "I don't wanna see no slackin' off from nobody! We all gotta regroup, get our heads together and fix dis mess!"

"Who died and made you the new leader?" Dik Dik grumbled.

"Mars is right!" Jaeger said firmly, turning to Dik Dik. "Ve need to regroup and prepare for battle!"

Dik Dik sighed, nodding his head.

"So what cha waitin' for, huh?" Mars asked, nodding his head at Dik Dik. "Cause if you lose tomorrow night, and you make it out alive, I'ma finish you off wid my own two hands, capisce?"

Dik Dik stood up, muttering something about "motivating with fear" before stepping out of the waiting area and heading off down the corridor. Jaeger stood, casting a critical glance at Dik Dik's back before starting after him.

"Hey kid," Mars stopped him, grabbing his shoulder to halt his progress. "Dis ain't personal, you gotta work wid Bambi, okay? Keep it in check, yeah?"

Jaeger nodded, his expression growing distant.

"And don't worry about da traffic sign and da jellyfish," Mars added. "Remember you beat 'em both back at da Hercules Factory, you can do it again."

"Ja," Jaeger said quietly, nodding his head.

"Don't let me down kid, I'm countin' on ya," Mars insisted, giving his shoulder a little shake.

"Ja!" Jaeger said with more conviction, offering Mars a brief smile.

"Get to it," Mars replied, releasing his shoulder.

Mars watched Jaeger leave until he had disappeared from sight before looking round at the remaining three members of the Muscle League: Checkmate, Kid Muscle and Kevin Mask.

"That's the spirit boys!" Meat encouraged them.

"They're doomed, aren't they?" Kevin asked Mars.

"Probably," Mars replied.

"What?" Meat yelped.

"Hey, what gives?" Kid demanded, turning to Mars. "You just told Jaeger he would win!"

"I say a lotta things," Mars replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Sometimes you gotta tell people what dey wanna hear to make 'em do stuff dey don't wanna do."

"Isn't that just bare-faced lying and manipulation?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

"Exactly," Mars said, snapping his fingers at Kevin. "See pig-boy, Kev gets it!"

Kid screwed up his face at Mars, but Mars appeared not to notice as he turned to Kevin.

"Let's get outta here, yeah?" he asked.

"About time too," Kevin agreed, standing up to join him.

"It's no big deal," Mars began as they made their way down the corridor to the elevators. "Alls we really gotta do is crush Eddie, den he'll run away wid his tail between his legs, and we can get all da girls back."

"You seem very confident," Kevin mused. "I thought you'd be more worried about Kiki."

"It's fine," Mars tightly replied. "Eddie ain't gonna do nothin' stupid right now, and she ain't alone in dere."

Kevin nodded his head, silently acknowledging that Mars had just told yet another lie.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger take on former Generation Ex members Road Rage and Hydrazoa, with Jacqueline's freedom at stake; but can Dik Dik and Jaeger work together as a team and can Jaeger overcome his past allegiances to win the fight? **Chapter 9 – Trusting Team Mates?**


	9. Trusting Team Mates?

**A/N:** I know the Ocean Dome closed in late 2007, but I'm pretending that never happened. Also, I had this idea before it closed, just my lazy posting means that it's now incorrect. So for the sake of this fic, let's just pretend the Ocean Dome was a great success…

Also, more references to my version of previous storylines (in this case, the Chojin Crown line-up and results).

**Recap:** With Wally and Terry hospitalised, Trixie was taken back to The Anarchists hide-out, where Edward convinced her to switch loyalties and join his group. The remaining Muscle Leaguers set out to prepare for their own upcoming matches, but Mars was oddly pessimistic.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Trusting Team Mates?**

Meat stared blankly at the sheet of paper in his hands for a prolonged moment in time before lifting his eyes to Kevin Mask, who was standing expectantly in front of him.

"Miyasaki," he said with a sigh.

"Alright," Kevin said, with a nod of his head.

"Aw, hell no!" Mars cursed, stamping a foot.

Kevin turned to Mars questioningly, who returned his look with one of confusion.

"Miyazaki," he repeated slowly. "He don't even gotta read whereabouts in Miyazaki, cause it's already obvious."

Kevin turned back to Meat, who was nodding his head solemnly.

"Dat dirty son of a bitch!" Mars added, before hurriedly correcting himself as he caught Kevin's eye. "Oh, oh, sorry Kev. I meant dat Eddie was a really nasty asshole, nothin' against your mother."

Kevin nodded before turning back to Meat.

"So today's fight will be held in Miyazaki, Japan," he said slowly.

"At the Ocean Dome?" Kid suddenly said, appearing from nowhere at Kevin's side.

"Yeah Kid, it's at the Seagaia Ocean Dome," Meat replied, turning the fax around to show Kid the proof.

"We're going to the Ocean Dome?" Kid squealed.

Kevin turned to Kid to ask him just what he was blabbering on about, starting in surprise when he found Kid suddenly dressed in lurid red trunks, a blinding Hawaiian shirt, bright green flip-flops, enormous bug-eyed sunglasses and an inflated rubber ring around his waist, a bottle of suntan lotion in one hand and a picnic basket in the other.

"Kid, this ain't a holiday!" Meat snapped at him.

"But think of all the girls on the beach!" Kid drooled, waggling his bottle of suntan lotion.

"The beach?" Kevin echoed.

"He means inside da Ocean Dome," Mars explained.

Kevin started to nod his head and feign agreement, but then decided against it.

"I don't quite follow," he admitted.

"You never heard of the Ocean Dome?" Meat asked him.

"No," Kevin replied.

"It's an indoor beach," Mars explained.

"Kevin dude, you need to get out more!" Kid snorted, prodding Kevin in the ribs with his elbow. "The Ocean Dome has great weather and surf all year round, and, best of all, hundreds of girls in bikinis!"

"You're a married man, show some self-restraint!" Kevin snapped at him.

"And get your head in da game, you idiot!" Mars added. "Dis ain't no holiday. Don't you remember what happened when you fought Hydrazoa over water?"

"Um…" Kid began, rolling his eyes to the roof pensively.

"And we're not talkin' about how the girls were dressed that day!" Meat reminded him.

Kid yelped as the memory of fighting Hydrazoa in his natural habitat suddenly struck him.

"Well we'd better get moving," Meat suggested. "Jaeger and Dik Dik are already on their way, we need to catch the next flight out there."

Kevin turned to Mars as the others started to ready themselves for departure.

"I can't believe you ain't never heard of da Ocean Dome," Mars said, shaking his head in despair. "When dis stupid tournament is over, I'm sendin' you on a vacation."

* * *

"Well fight fans, here we are at the Seagaia Ocean Dome, the set for today's match-up between the Muscle League and The Anarchists. Doc, any comments on what the fans can expect to see today?"

"Well Mac, today Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger are taking on Hydrazoa and Road Rage. As long-standing fans will already know, Jaeger was once team-mates with Hydrazoa and Road Rage during the Generation Ex Tournament, and during that time, Dik Dik fought against Jaeger for a place in the IWF stationed here on Earth. A lotta history in this one, Mac."

"That's right Doc, and with the ring set up right in the middle of the artificial ocean here at the Ocean Dome, you gotta wonder if the volcano and the wave machines will play a part in today's fight."

"A definite advantage for Hydrazoa if they did, Mac. Will it be a wave of success for The Anarchists, or will they be washed away by the Red Rain of Pain? We'll find out shortly."

Mars snorted again and Kevin groaned out a sigh again.

"Can I have a bite of your cherry strudel?" Mars giggled.

"Whatever," Amy grunted.

"Would you like to taste my weiner?" Mars asked her, his words punctuated by increasingly unbidden laugher.

"Grow up!" Amy snarled.

"I bet I could make ya yodel all through da night, toots!"

"That's Switzerland, you ignorant creep!" Amy snapped, slapping Mars over the head with her programme.

"Oh yeah?" Mars asked. "If it's Switzerland, den how many holes does your-"

"Mars, cut it out," Kevin cut him off.

"Aw, c'mon Kev!" Mars moaned. "Look at her! She obviously dressed like dat to make us laugh at her!"

"Just leave her alone," Kevin quietly added.

"Yeah Mars, back off," Amy sneered at Mars. "And as for you!" she snapped, turning to Kevin. "How many times do I have to tell you: I can fight my battles just fine on my own! I don't need you doing your silly, out-dated little "knight in shining helmet" routine!"

"Shining helmet!" Mars chuckled, his shoulders shuddering with suppressed laughter.

Kevin sighed, turning to Amy, who was – inexplicably – sat between himself and Mars. In keeping with the dreadful outfit she had been wearing to the previous match, she was dressed in something Kevin reasoned was probably meant to inspire the Muscle League Chojins fighting that day by showing her support. But frankly, she looked like she ought to be flogging mugs of warm, flat beer and strings of greasy sausages on a dubious, tourist-infested back lane in a remote village in Germany.

"I think she looks cute, and it's very touching that she is so supportive of the boys," Marie said, her tone quiet but serious. "Maybe some of the rest of you could take a page out of Amy's book and put more effort into supporting your friends."

Kevin sighed, feeling oddly as though he had just been hurled back almost twenty years through time and his own mother had just told him off for getting his knees muddy before Sunday school.

"Why are you still here anyway?" he asked, turning to Amy.

She turned to look up at him, her eyes and lips thinned into a scowl.

"Because somebody threw me into a prison cell onboard a spaceship that took me here," she began, her tone slowly building in pitch, pre-warning Kevin that he was about receive another verbal bashing. "When that spaceship made it's return journey it left without me, and when a second spaceship was sent to collect me, some idiot cried "bomb" and the ship was taken into custody for a full safety check. Until that ship gets released again, I'm stuck here. And I figure since I am stuck here, I might as well make the most of it, and attend some wrestling matches, because I actually enjoy watching wrestling live. Is that okay with you?"

Kevin watched her blankly for a moment, silently aware that her last question had come out particularly loud, attracting the attention of a large radius of people around them.

"So you're not following me again then?" Kevin asked casually.

"Oh for the love of…" she began, before growling out some indecipherable words under her breath. "Don't flatter yourself!"

She folded her arms tightly over her chest and sat back forcefully in her seat, her disgruntled scowl shortly melting as her eyes moved to something in the distance. Kevin instinctively followed the direction she appeared to be looking, not entirely surprised to find Edward and his group slowly making their way towards them. Even though Edward was, as always, wearing his iron mask, Kevin was sure by the way he held himself that Edward was smirking at the predicament they found themselves in: the Muscle League were down two members, whilst all eight of Edward's group appeared to be in attendance. And, as Kevin watched them once more settle into the row directly in front of the Muscle League Chojins in attendance, Edward appeared to have once more pre-arranged the seating order of his team.

Death Angel sat in front of Kid again, Edward sat in front of Mars and Fargo sat in front of Kevin.

"And dat right dere is how a lady ought to dress, so take notes," Mars loudly whispered to Amy, nudging her with his elbow and pointing at the back of Sprite's head.

Edward turned in his seat at the sound of Mars's voice, eying Mars over before shifting to Amy. He hesitated at Amy, studying her a little more carefully before turning to Kevin.

"Are you collecting people with scarred faces or something?" he asked Kevin.

"What?" Amy echoed.

"Honestly Kevin, you're worse than our father," Edward snorted, aiming a thumb at Amy. "He liked his women homely and asexual too."

Kevin stood abruptly, but Fargo stood in front of him, moving an arm over Edward to block Kevin from reaching him.

"How dare you talk about our mother like that?" Kevin growled at Edward, ignoring Fargo entirely.

Edward shrugged.

"The last memory I have of the old bag was her burning alive because of you," he said casually.

Kevin made to pounce on Edward but Mars shot up, slapping a hand against Kevin's chest to hold him back.

"Thanks Marsy," Edward said sweetly, turning his back on Mars and Kevin.

Mars glowered at the back of Edward's head, but after a deep breath and long, slow sigh, he regained his composure.

"Just sit down, Kev," he muttered, removing his hand from Kevin's chest and returning to his own seat.

Kevin slowly sat back down, watching Fargo follow his lead. An awkward silence seemed to follow, and although Kevin was a great lover of silence, even he was concerned by the lack of noise around him. Turning to his side, he saw Amy sitting stiffly in her chair, her eyes expressionless and unblinking and her face oddly devoid of emotion. As he watched, Kevin saw Marie lean across Mars's legs to take hold of one of Amy's hands.

"Don't listen to him," she whispered to Amy. "He's just trying to be mean to the boys."

Amy nodded stiffly, but did not move her eyes or change her expression. Kevin tried to understand what was going on: Edward had just insulted Alice Mask so why would that upset Amy? But before he could figure out the complexity that was a woman's mind, Kevin's thoughts were interrupted by the magnified sound of Ikeman's voice from the centre of the ring.

"Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen!" he sang out. "And welcome to the Seagaia Ocean Dome! Today we will witness a tag team from the Muscle League take on a tag team from the DMP, in the name of my own sister, Jacqueline McMadd!"

Ikeman thrust his arm out to one side, and all heads in the audience turned, a collective gasp resounding in the air as a cage lowered over the mouth of the artificial volcano at the back of the dome.

"Introducing The Anarchists, Road Rage and Hydrazoa!" Ikeman continued, his words immediately followed by blaring music.

As Road Rage and Hydrazoa came into sight Kid let out a cry of alarm, but quickly clamped both hands over his mouth and cowered down as Mars shot him a glare that could have killed a weaker mortal.

"You've seen 'em before," Mars ground out through gritted teeth. "You ain't got no excuse for pissin' yourself."

Kid slowly moved his hands to his crotch, crossing his legs over nervously. Mars grumbled some choice curse words under his breath before snapping to attention as he caught Marie glowering at him.

"Sorry Miss," he said, bowing his head politely.

Kevin sat forwards, pulling a face of childish disbelief at Mars; which of course was a completely redundant thing to do, given that his entire head was hidden beneath his trusty mask. Sitting back with a small sigh, Kevin began wondering just when it was that the IWF had shifted from a dignified assembly where men fought for honour to a gathering of hormonal teenage boys out-numbered by giggling girls and nagging women. The IWF of the 21st Century was not the same band of men fighting with their lives at stake, striving for the totality of strength within, that Kevin's father had sold to him as a child.

Sometimes, Kevin thought darkly, he missed his days with the DMP.

"And the Muscle League's very own Jaeger and Dik Dik Van Dik!" Ikeman cried out, striking a ridiculous pose that even Kid Muscle would not be stupid enough to attempt in a public arena.

Just to further remind Kevin of how ludicrous wrestling had become, the girl at his side yelled out a crass cheer, clapping her hands in encouragement. Kevin shifted his gaze and, for a brief moment, caught his brother's eye. Edward held his gaze for less than a second before making a small snort of condescending laughter and turning back to the ring. Kevin stole a glance at Amy, eying her over curiously. He concluded that Edward had somehow – obviously quite mistakenly – assumed that Amy was Kevin's girlfriend. Which was, of course, a ridiculous notion, Kevin told himself, and one that could have no possible impact on the ongoing tournament Edward had instigated, and therefore ought to be none of Edward's concern.

Kevin sighed, the thump reaching his ears before he realised what he had done.

"Kevin!" Amy hissed at him.

Kevin first looked down at his booted foot, the heel of which was resting directly in front of Amy's feet, just below the footprint it had just left in the back of Sprite's chair where he had inadvertently kicked out. Lifting his eyes, Kevin saw Sprite and Edward both glowering at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sprite sneered, narrowing his disturbingly pretty amber eyes at Kevin.

"It was me," Amy suddenly blurted out.

Kevin's neck snapped around in Amy's direction so quickly he felt it burn; but Amy merely twitched her eyebrows at him before turning back to Sprite.

"I can't see a damn thing over that stupid hat you're wearing," Amy told Sprite confidently, lifting her chin in a defiant manner that spoke of a courage Kevin had never encountered before in a woman.

"And I can't hear a damn thing over that trashy, loud outfit you're wearing, but you don't hear me complaining!" Sprite snippily shot back at her.

"Oh meow!" Amy spat, her confidence seemingly unwavering. "Just take off the hat. Enjoy the sea breeze in your hair while you can, because by the time Kid Muscle and Checkmate are through with you, you'll be spending your days cooped up in a hospital bed crying for your mother!"

"Oh please! You're only here because you're having it away the leader of the Muscle League!" Sprite snorted, pointing at Kevin.

"Oh yeah?" Amy yelled, sitting forwards to bring herself face-to-face with Sprite. "Well ditto to you, darling! You're only here because you're taking it up the chuff from the leader of the DMP!"

"You wretched street urchin, shut your mouth or I'll finish what was started right here!" Sprite shouted, waving a finger at Amy's scars.

"With fingernails like that you probably could! Why don't you just take off the hat and put your handbag down, sister!"

"You uncouth, nasty, venomous snake-woman!"

"And you're a rude, loud-mouthed little slut!"

"You, woman, are a–"

"Stop it!" Kevin roared, shooting forwards in his seat.

Sprite and Amy both turned to Kevin, their mouths clamped shut, blinking at him curiously.

"Don't talk to Amy like that!" Kevin growled, jabbing a finger at Sprite.

"See, she is his latest bitch," Edward told Sprite, who nodded in agreement.

"She is not my bitch!" Kevin snapped. "Just take the hat off, and don't ever talk to her like that again!"

"Why not?" Amy asked, curling her lip at Kevin. "You do it all the time…"

"I'm allowed to, no-one else!" Kevin said.

Sprite turned back to the ring, giggling into his fist, but removing his hat anyway. Kevin froze, his own words echoing around his head as he locked eyes with Amy, who was staring at him incredulously, her jaw hanging open. He really had no idea what had inspired his outburst that had, quite literally, come from nowhere. He had been listening to Amy and Sprite argue, one moment feeling amazed and confused that Amy had taken the blame for his earlier actions, and then suddenly something about the direction their argument took made something inside him snap.

"It's very hot in here," he commented, grabbing Amy's programme from her and wafting it in front of himself in a vain attempt to air his face which was suddenly uncomfortably warm beneath his mask; feeling much the same way it did after a very demanding fight or rigorous workout.

"Okay…" Amy breathed, sitting back quietly in her seat and turning to the ring.

Kevin released a small sigh, his brain racing as it tried to justify what had just occurred. The way Amy had been arguing with Sprite had reminded him of the way she usually argued with him; more specifically, the night she had argued with him outside of The Palace, the night he had saved her from being mugged. The night she had been applying to The Palace for a job, and therefore dressed like one of the staff; which was an image that had never really left Kevin's mind.

Suppressing the thought, as he had so often done in the years since that night, Kevin focussed on the ring, where Dik Dik and Hydrazoa had started off the fight, with Jaeger and Road Rage standing in their respective corners. At least this time the fight was starting out in a correct and orderly fashion, Kevin thought to himself.

Dik Dik started off by lunging at Hydrazoa as though to tackle him. Hydrazoa effortlessly dodged to one side to avoid the attack, but Dik Dik kept going forwards, kicking back out with one leg as he passed Hydrazoa, his heel connecting with Hydrazoa's temple. At the side of the ring, Broken nodded his approval, and the sight brought a distinct sense of relief to Kevin, as he realised that Broken had at least worked on preparing his men for this match; and since Broken had witnessed both Hydrazoa and Road Rage train at the Hercules Factory, he was best placed to know their weaknesses and how best to combat their deadliest attacks.

Dik Dik wasted no time, capitalising on his advantage by grabbing an arm around the back of Hydrazoa's neck catching him in a front face-lock and slamming him down to the canvas in a DDT. The audience cheered out appreciatively, but Dik Dik remained focussed, grabbing at Hydrazoa before he could stand again, flipping him over in a fisherman suplex. As Dik Dik rose from the move, he failed to notice a sweeping kick from Hydrazoa that caught one of his ankles. Dik Dik stumbled, catching the ropes to steady himself, realising too late that he was dangerously close to the opposite team's corner.

Before Dik Dik had time to look up, Road Rage grabbed both of his horns and leapt back off the ring apron to the ground, squashing Dik Dik's eyes into the top rope. Road Rage released his hold of Dik Dik just before he reached the ground, causing the spring in the rope to act as a catapult that sent Dik Dik flying up and back to the other side of the ring where he landed hard on his back, blinking in a daze of temporary blindness. Dik Dik slowly moved the heels of his palms to his eyes, rolling onto his side on instinct, the burn of the rope against his eyes feeling as though he had just been subjected to tear gas.

"Dik Dik, over here!" Jaeger called to him.

Dik Dik blinked through the haze, spotting Jaeger's outstretched hand a short distance in front of him, easily within arm's length if he were to reach for it. Dik Dik hesitated, a thoughtful look passing over his face before rolling away from Jaeger and grabbing at the ropes to pull himself up. Hydrazoa quickly stomped a foot into Dik Dik's ribs, sending him back down to the mat before he could fully right himself.

Jaeger growled out a few choice curse words in his own language, gripping his hands into the ropes in frustration as he watched Hydrazoa shift the direction of the match and dominate Dik Dik with a series of devastating kicks and elbows. Behind him, Jaeger vaguely heard Broken urging him to be patient and remain calm, but Jaeger's mind was starting to wander to other matters: more specifically, Dik Dik's performance during the Generation Ex Tournament.

Dik Dik had conspired against one of his own team-mates (Terry Kenyon), beaten Jaeger, and lost his self-control throughout the tournament because of his feelings for Kiki. And, Jaeger thought darkly, Dik Dik had continued to act in a devious manner beyond the end of the tournament when he set about destroying Kiki's chances to be with Mars. Although Dik Dik had not shown that side of his personality since that time, Jaeger was still a little wary of him, and he had been less than happy when Dik Dik was assigned as his tag team partner back at the official Bad Blood Tournament press conference; but he had not argued the point because the way Mars had suggested they form teams had sounded as though it made sense. Jaeger just hoped that Dik Dik was not out to try to prove something to someone like he had been during the Generation Ex Tournament, because he had proved there that he was not proficient at keeping his emotions in check in the ring, even if the battle he faced was a crucial one.

And so, when Dik Dik was thrown into the corner-post, Jaeger wasted no time in slapping his shoulder and leaping over the top rope.

"Tag," Jaeger offered, as he caught Dik Dik glaring at him in a state of bemusement.

Hydrazoa was charging towards them, looking only slightly perturbed to see that Jaeger had also entered the ring.

"Get out of ze vay!" Jaeger urged, waving a hand at Dik Dik.

Dik Dik made a grunting sound that suggested he was not happy or in agreement with what Jaeger had just done, but he ducked out through the ropes regardless. Jaeger leaned back, grabbing the top ropes on either side of the corner and leapt up, striking out and catching Hydrazoa's chin with both heels. Dik Dik glanced over his shoulder at Broken, but since the old man seemed focused on what Jaeger was doing inside the ring, Dik Dik turned away again, deciding against attempting a conversation with him. Dik Dik was a little concerned about putting Jaeger into the ring with his former classmates from the Hercules Factory, especially so early in the match when Hydrazoa was still relatively fresh and Road Rage had not even entered the ring yet.

Dik Dik sighed, his eyes wandering upwards to the cage by the top of the volcano, something seeming distinctly wrong as he took in the image of Jacqueline McMadd standing in the cage, one arm draped through the bars, the other bent up to her head, where her fingers were idly toying with her hair. She almost looked bored, Dik Dik thought to himself, unsure if that was amusing or just outright absurd. His memories of Trixie from two days ago were of a terrified girl screaming and pleading for her life; and although Jacqueline was arguably the strongest of the four girls who had been abducted, surely even she ought to be at least a little concerned and unhappy about being held prisoner by the DMP and balanced over a volcano in a cage, like some sort of exotic creature in a pet shop.

Dik Dik shook his head, deciding that Jacqueline was too far away from him to clearly read her facial expressions, and he was basing his assumptions on her stance alone, which he was most probably misinterpreting. Moving his attention back to the task at hand, Dik Dik watched with wide eyes as Jaeger and Hydrazoa took shot after shot at each other, dodging every attack aimed at themselves each time. They were starting to look like mimes performing on a street corner, and were doing nothing more than wearing themselves out. If they continued, Dik Dik thought to himself, the result of the fight would come down to who was the fittest; though currently it looked like they were both tiring at an equal pace.

"What's the matter, Jaeger?" Hydrazoa taunted him as they continued to dodge and dive around each other. "Did you forget that I know every one of your moves?"

"Nein," Jaeger replied, sounding a little too breathless for Dik Dik's liking. "Maybe you forget zhat I graduated top of ze class!"

"Dat's not true…" Mars muttered under his breath.

The others sat around him turned to him expectantly.

"Well, ya know, dey deducted points for…" Mars began, scratching at the back of his head as he searched for the right words to use.

"Bad conduct?" Kevin bluntly asked him.

"Bad behaviour," Mars corrected him.

"And you think you would have finished top of class if you hadn't been messin' around?" Meat asked him cynically.

"Hey, my track record in da ring says all dat needs to be said," Mars plainly replied.

In front of Mars, Edward snorted.

"Somethin' funny, Eddie?" Mars asked in a low voice.

"Nothing at all," Edward sighed. "If you're happy to be third best, nothing at all."

Mars's eyes thinned dangerously as he stared at the back of Edward's masked head.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged.

"Well you lost to Kid Muscle and Kevin, so…" Edward said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Say dat to my face, ya little rat!" Mars snarled, sitting forwards.

"Save it for the ring," Kevin suggested, reaching an arm over the back of Amy's seat to grab Mars's shoulder and pull him back in his seat.

Mars sat back with a growl, folding his arms moodily, his eyes still set on Edward. Satisfied that Mars had been contained, Kevin moved his hand to the corner of Amy's chair, resting his forearm along the back of her chair.

Back in the ring, despite having managed to overwhelm Jaeger, Hydrazoa tagged out, allowing Road Rage to step in. Jaeger stumbled around, hesitating only briefly to acknowledge that his opponent had changed before attempting a leg-sweep kick in the hope of tripping Road Rage over before he could start his trickery. However, Jaeger's move missed as Road Rage hopped to one side. As Jaeger stood up again he was aware that Road Rage was immediately behind him, and remembering his former classmate's Guard Rail Grab, Jaeger quickly leapt up, delivering a spinning heel kick to Road Rage's head, sending him staggering into the ropes. Jaeger was trying to keep from looking directly at Road Rage's face to avoid his road sign attacks, and he knew that if he could just get Road Rage down to the mat, he could wrestle him there and hopefully press his advantage for a victory.

But as he turned to pounce on Road Rage Jaeger hesitated – his hesitation was only brief, no more than two seconds – but it was long enough for Road Rage to recover and attack Jaeger, grabbing him face-on with his Guard Rail Grab.

"It's been a long time, Jaeger!" he sneered, leaning into Jaeger's face.

On the ring apron Dik Dik growled in frustration at Jaeger's lapse in concentration: although looking the direction Jaeger's head had been turned, he could understand why Jaeger had been affected. Jacqueline was apparently admiring her own feet, as though what was transpiring below her was nothing more than a dull puppet show unworthy of her attention.

"I saw you fight in the Chojin Olympics," Road Rage continued as Jaeger tried to squirm out of the Guard Rail Grab. "I promise you today your loss will be in a more dignified manner than a ridiculous "Panties on a Pole" match like the one Kid Muscle beat you in!"

"I vas fighting for ze Chojin Crown!" Jaeger argued back. "It vas dignified!"

Road Rage merely laughed in reply.

"Since we didn't get Wally Tusket's head, maybe I just should just take yours!" he said darkly, his laughter fading as his triangular head began to spin.

Jaeger gasped, leaning back, his spine flexing backwards as he tried to avoid Road Rage's Rotary Saw attack. Thanks to his extensive gymnastic training with Broken Junior, Jaeger was quite flexible, and due to the apparently unbreakable hold Road Rage had him in, Jaeger knew he would have to rely on his flexibility to escape harm.

"These fights are a lot bloodier than the Chojin Crown was!" Amy hissed, wincing and leaning closer to Kevin as the gap between Jaeger's chest and Road Rage's spinning triangular head gradually narrowed.

Kevin shifted his eyes to Amy, flinching involuntarily as her head lightly touched his shoulder. Looking down her back he noticed that he had somehow forgotten to remove his arm from the back of her chair; but since she had apparently not noticed either, Kevin decided not to mention it or to attempt to move it.

Back in the ring, Dik Dik was unashamedly gaping at what he saw: Jaeger was almost doubled back over completely, and Road Rage had not yet managed to cut into him. In fact, it appeared as though Road Rage could not lean forward any more, and Jaeger would be safe. But, Dik Dik thought darkly, Jaeger was attached to Road Rage's body by a metal clamp, and so there seemed no way for him to escape without standing upright and enduring the Rotary Saw attack. Tilting his head from side to side, Dik Dik failed to see a way out for Jaeger that would not involve bloodshed; and turning to Broken Junior, he saw that he was not alone in his dark premonition.

Dik Dik turned back to the ring, barely catching the sight of Hydrazoa slipping a foot under the bottom rope and kicking one of Jaeger's legs out from under him. Jaeger stumbled, his spine straightening a little on instinct, thrusting him into Road Rage's Rotary Saw.

"Hey!" Dik Dik protested, waving a fist in the air.

Hydrazoa merely shrugged his shoulders in reply, almost as a reminder to Dik Dik that he and Road Rage now worked for the DMP. Jaeger finally found his footing, but in his stumbling, he had earned himself two deep gashes on his upper chest and one dangerously close to his neck.

"How about that pesky Red Rain of Pain?" Road Rage said, grabbing an arm around the back of Jaeger's neck and twisting him over to one side. "I know one way to stop that little problem!"

Road Rage began to cut Jaeger's right arm at the shoulder, the first flicker of genuine panic passing over Jaeger's face. Dik Dik could see no way for Jaeger to escape, and if he lost an arm, their chances of winning would be drastically reduced; particularly when the arm in question was the one Jaeger used to perform his signature move. As Dik Dik warred with whether or not to leap into the ring to stop what was inevitably unfolding, his eyes once more wandered to Jacqueline, who was sitting on the floor of her cage, one leg stretched out in front of herself, the other bent at the knee. Her back was rested against the cage bars, and one arm was resting on her bent knee, her hand lifted towards her face, where it appeared she was inspecting her fingernails, apparently oblivious to what was going on in the ring.

A buzzer suddenly sounded, which seemed to come as a surprise to everyone bar The Anarchists and Kid Muscle.

"What in the name of all that is holy was that?" Dik Dik asked, his ear pricking up as he looked around himself nervously.

"It's the volcano!" Kid Muscle yelled to him. "It's gonna blow!"

"What?" Meat yelped.

"The buzzer means the volcano is gonna explode in two minutes, and then the waves go tubular!" Kid said cheerfully.

"What about Jacqueline?" Marie gasped, clutching a hand to her chest as she looked up at the cage above the mouth of the volcano.

The audience gasped as clouds of smoke began slowly seeping up from the volcano, gradually building in thickness and height, slowly engulfing the cage Jacqueline was trapped in. Jacqueline looked about herself, her eyes becoming wide with panic. As the smoke began to swirl around her head, she hurriedly stood up, stretching up to her fullest height in a vain attempt to distance herself from the problem.

"Looks like Dik Dik and Jaeger are running out of time if they want to save Jacqueline McMadd," Edward said loudly.

"You never said that this was a timed match!" Meat shouted, standing out of his seat. "This isn't fair!"

"Dis ain't good," Mars said solemnly, shaking his head slowly. "Two minutes after dat buzzer, flames come up from da volcano. If dey don't get to Jacqueline real quick, den…"

"Then the Muscle League losers are down two-nil, and looking pretty pathetic," Edward said triumphantly.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** With a volcano eruption and a high tide on the way, the second match of the Bad Blood Tournament starts to get messy. Literally... **Chapter 10 – Shifting Tides**. 


	10. Shifting Tides

**A/N:** This story – much like everything I spend a lot of time doing – is turning very bloody, violent and dirty. So the rating will be going up sometime soon, and that means this will disappear from the main page (unless you select view R-rated material).

**Recap:** The second round match kicked off at the Seagaia Ocean Dome, following the pattern of merciless warring the previous match displayed. However, the setting of the match looked set to play a factor in the outcome...

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Shifting Tides**

"You never said that this was a timed match!" Meat shouted, standing out of his seat. "This isn't fair!"

"Dis ain't good," Mars said solemnly, shaking his head slowly. "Two minutes after dat buzzer, flames come up from da volcano. If dey don't get to Jacqueline real quick, den…"

"Then the Muscle League losers are down two-nil, and looking pretty pathetic," Edward said triumphantly.

Kid screamed in panicked horror, glancing between Edward, the ongoing fight in the ring and the image of Jacqueline dissolving into the ever-thickening smoke.

"Wait a minute!" Amy said suddenly. "I thought that, for safety reasons, those flames were fake! It's just a lighting effect, isn't it?"

"If you read your invite today, you would already know how ridiculous that question is," Edward casually replied.

Meat hurriedly retrieved the folded up fax from his pocket, opening it out and quickly scanning through the finer print.

"Uh…" he began, scratching one hand at the back of his head nervously. "It says here the volcano has a flame-thrower inside it, and the water has been replaced by real seawater."

"Real seawater?" Mars echoed, sitting up in alarm. "Dat ain't good either!"

"Tickety-tock, tickety-tock…" Edward sighed, looking down at his watch.

"What's da point in havin' dis stupid tournament, if you ain't even gonna play by your own rules!" Mars roared at him.

Kevin flinched as he felt something pinch his side as Mars began to shout, and looking down, he saw that Amy had, in her efforts to lean away from Mars, moved against Kevin's side, her hands gripping at the fabric of his T-shirt by his waist.

"If you ain't playin' fair, why da hell should we?" Mars demanded. "If you ain't gonna fight us properly, den you better grow eyes in da back of your head Eddie, cause I'ma hunt you all down, take da girls back myself, and kill you!"

Edward slowly turned in his seat, looking first at Mars, then Amy, Marie, and the row of fans sat behind them. Mars faltered a little, glancing at the women either side of him, both of who were cowered away from him, watching him with fearful eyes. Over his shoulder, he saw that the fans were either trying to shuffle their seats back from him or else just screwing up their faces in disbelief.

"You know it's true what they say," Edward said loudly, more addressing those around Mars than Mars himself. "The black heart of a Devil Chojin can never truly be changed. But of course, a smooth-talking liar can always convince people otherwise. Isn't that right, Mars?"

Mars turned back to Edward, opening his mouth and pointing a finger at Edward as though to say something, before stopping himself, a sudden wave of worry washing over him, his face softening.

"What da hell have you been sayin' to my girl?" Mars asked quietly.

"What, Kiki?" Edward asked innocently. "Nice girl, Kiki. Really not your type, I thought. Upstanding, moral girl, generous, caring, kind, thoughtful… A little meek and submissive for a Devil Chojin like you Mars, but she is at least sensible of the differences between right and wrong, between the truth and an outright lie…"

Mars's face became unreadable, his skin changing colour, as though he was becoming ill listening to Edward talk.

"Don't listen to him, Mars," Kevin said confidently. "I've been living with you and that freckle-faced menace long enough to know that she loves you too much to let an idiot like Eddie come between the two of you."

"Hm…" Edward said slowly, tilting his head in an attempt to look thoughtful. "Except for the fact that she trusted you to be honest with her, and you haven't quite kept that promise, now have you Mars?"

Mars gulped quietly, his face turning a shade paler. Kevin eyed him over curiously, surprised to find Mars suddenly so uncharacteristically short of words.

"In fact, I had a very interesting conversation with little Kiki just this morning," Edward continued, his tone barely concealing the pleasure he was apparently getting out of making Mars suffer. "We both found it fascinating how much your account of you own life you told to Kiki differed from reality…"

Mars stood abruptly, but his face was still pale and a little unsure. Edward stood with him, shrugging his shoulders with his hands upturned the same way Kevin had often seen Mars do.

"I digress…" Edward said casually. "Excuse us, won't you? We have something we really must take care of. Fargo?"

Fargo obediently stood and followed Edward out from their seats. Mars watched them until the reached the aisle before roughly shoving past Marie, Meat, Kid and Checkmate to follow after them.

"Oh, scarface, I almost forgot!" Edward laughed, patting Fargo on the shoulder to signal he should continue alone. "Kiki asked me to pass a message onto you today."

Mars stopped short, a hint of curiosity flickering across his features.

"She said that she has been thinking about what you spoke to her about at Kid Muscle's wedding," Edward began, his tone light and easy as though his words ought to be insignificant. "And, in light of what she has since learned about you, she's decided she doesn't want to do that any more. Not really sure what "that" was, she never really expanded on it, but I'm sure it makes sense to you, scarface."

Mars shifted his balance, his eyebrows twitching into a frown, but still words escaped him.

"I'll tell her you said that, shall I?" Edward asked sweetly. "And I'll see you again the day after tomorrow!"

Mars still remained silent, watching Edward jog after Fargo until he had disappeared from sight.

"Hey, could you sit down? We can't see what's happening in the ring!" a fan called to Mars.

Mars shifted his eyes to where the man sat, his lip curling at one side to expose a fang.

"Oh I'm sorry!" he sneered sarcastically, turning to the man who had spoken.

Mars put one hand on Checkmate's shoulder, leaning over him to grab the polystyrene cup of lemonade the fan was pointing at him, snatching it back.

"And how 'bout I shove dis so far up your–"

"Mars!" Meat snapped, cutting off Mars's threat.

"You can kiss my ass too, little man!" Mars snarled at him, crushing the cup in his hands, lemonade and ice cubes squirting up around him. "Dis is just a joke!" he added, pointing back at the ring. "You're all weak! Some stupid kid and his friends are walkin' all over us here, and nobody even gives a damn!"

Mars flung the crushed cup hard to one side, bouncing it off the side of Kevin's mask.

"And don't just sit dere and pretend like you don't know exactly what I'm talkin' about, Mask!" Mars shouted, jabbing a finger in Kevin's direction. "I've spent a lotta time at da Hercules Factory, it ain't nothin' like what we was put through at Da Academy! Dese guys don't know shit, and now I gotta suffer for it!"

Kevin quietly picked the cup from Amy's lap, where it had landed after hitting off his head.

"I can't watch dis, it's just pathetic!" Mars continued pointing at the ring again. "I'm outta here!"

Mars stomped off, shoving a fan to the ground when he tried to ask Mars for an autograph. Checkmate stood, but Kevin quickly shook his head.

"Let him go," Kevin suggested. "If you go after him now, he'll just turn on you too."

Checkmate slowly sat back down, pulling a face that suggested he was not happy with Mars's actions.

"That was scary," Amy whispered, inching closer to Kevin. "He's still as volatile as he was when he was in the DMP!"

"Maybe that's a good thing," Kevin replied, turning back to the ring. "Understanding an enemy is often the first step to defeating him."

"I guess…" Amy said quietly.

"What do you think it was that Kiki said she doesn't want to do with Mars any more?" Kid asked anyone who cared to listen.

"Well, it was at your wedding they spoke about it, so I think maybe Mars asked Kiki to marry him," Marie offered.

"That'll never happen!" Amy blurted out.

The others turned to her, and she laughed nervously as she met their questioning stares.

"I mean, we're talking about Mars here, right?" she asked nervously. "I can't honestly imagine him ever marrying anyone!"

"Mars has changed since he was in the DMP," Marie told her.

"Not that much he hasn't," Kevin muttered.

Amy turned to him, but Kevin chose to ignore her. He had his own idea of what Mars had asked Kiki, and if his suspicions were correct, Mars's question was far bigger and more crucial to him than a simple wedding.

Back in the ring, Jaeger had realised the severity of the situation, having heard Kid Muscle and then Dik Dik yell to him that Jacqueline's safety was only guaranteed for less than two minutes. Deciding that since Road Rage had not thought twice about cutting into him, he ought to return the favour, Jaeger chopped his hand down at his side, slicing through one part of Road Rage's guard rail, wincing as his actions inadvertently jerked his shoulder upwards, deepening the cut Road Rage had been making in his attempt to remove Jaeger's arm.

Road Rage straightened a little in pain, allowing Jaeger to manoeuvre out of Road Rage's hold. Jaeger staggered over to the ropes, grabbing at them as he took a breath and tried to steady himself. Looking down at his right shoulder, he was slightly relieved that most of the damage Road Rage had inflicted there was in his blind spot, as what he could see of it did not look too good. A glance up at the smoking volcano told Jaeger that he had no time to waste, and so he immediately charged at Road Rage, yelping in confusion and frustration as Road Rage altered his face at the last possible moment, sending Jaeger swerving off to one side.

"Stop your tricks!" Jaeger yelled angrily, rounding on Road Rage. "Fight me like a man!"

"Tricks?" Road Rage echoed. "What do you call this?"

Road Rage held his hands over his severed rail guard to indicate his point.

"Zhat vas not a trick!" Jaeger argued.

"You cut me with a blade," Road Rage pointed out. "Is that what you call fighting like a man?"

"You cut me too!" Jaeger argued back.

"Well if cutting is the style of fighting you want, that's fine by me."

Road Rage's head began to spin again, and he charged at Jaeger. Jaeger stood perfectly still until Road Rage was almost upon him before leaping into a low drop-kick, both his heels colliding with Road Rage's knee. Jaeger landed on his side, hurriedly taking advantage of Road Rage, who had tripped over to land face-down. Jaeger pounced onto Road Rage, locking him into a Boston Crab.

"Alright Jaeger!" Dik Dik cheered appreciatively from the ring apron.

Road Rage groaned, reaching an arm out as he tried to pull for the ropes. Jaeger knew his move would not be effective for long as the wound in his right shoulder was hindering his ability to hold on. But remembering Jacqueline's dire situation and the crushing defeat of Wally and Terry in the first round, Jaeger bit down on his pain and leaned back further, using his flexibility to really put pressure on Road Rage's weak legs.

But as Road Rage growled out pain, Jaeger spotted Hydrazoa slipping through the ropes to join the fight, threatening to turn the match into another free-for-all, just as their team-mates had done two days earlier.

"Oh no you don't!" Dik Dik shouted, leaping over the top rope and charging at Hydrazoa.

Hydrazoa swung back his arm, activating his Ice Sword, aiming a swing at Dik Dik's mid-section; but Dik Dik punched out with his Antler Fist, shattering the Ice Sword. Jaeger felt a boost of confidence from witnessing Dik Dik's impressive offence and leaned back further still, bringing a cry of pain from Road Rage.

"Maybe these guys aren't so tough after all!" Kid Muscle said cheerfully, rubbing his hands together with a grin.

Death Angel turned to look over his shoulder at Kid, his skeletal face blank and devoid of any emotion. Kid let out an "eep" and grabbed Meat into a hug.

"I take it back!" Kid squeaked.

"C'mon Kid, that's not the attitude to have!" Meat said as he wrestled out of Kid's grip. "Look at Jaeger and Dik Dik in the ring, they're fightin' with all they got!"

"Yeah, Dik Dik never wins a match but he's totally–yah!"

Kid's words turned abruptly into a scream of shock, his arms moving from Meat to cover his head as an almighty bang shot out through the Ocean Dome, a rush of flames bursting up from the volcano. Everyone except The Anarchists watched in unified horror as the flames died down, the blackened remains of Jacqueline's cage collapsing in all directions and sliding down the sides of the volcano.

"Wh-what happened to Jacqueline?" Kid asked quietly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sprite sneered, turning to glower at Kid.

"Oh God, that's awful!" Amy wailed. "She was a horrible woman, but she didn't deserve that!"

Kevin moved his hand to Amy's shoulder, resting his arm against her back.

"Looks like you're too late to save the chairman's sister now!" Hydrazoa laughed inside the ring.

"Vot?" Jaeger whimpered, dropping Road Rage and staggering over to the back corner of the ring.

Dik Dik glanced nervously between the ashen remains of Jacqueline's cage atop the volcano, Road Rage, Hydrazoa and Jaeger, a distinct rumbling sound building around him, the ring shuddering beneath his feet.

"Jaeger, get away from the ropes!" he cried, running into the centre of the ring and ducking down, covering his head with his arms.

But Jaeger was too preoccupied with Jacqueline's fate to notice the wall of water that rose at the back of the Ocean Dome. The gigantic waves blasted forwards mercilessly, crashing over the ring and drenching Jaeger. The slap of water momentarily brought Jaeger's attention back to the ring as he desperately began swiping chunks of seaweed from himself. He turned to the source of the wave, gasping as he saw another wave headed towards him. Jaeger staggered back, but did not move quickly enough to avoid being once more whacked by a wall of seawater. A cry of alarm from outside the ring brought Jaeger back to the ropes, his jaw dropping as he stared at the empty platform surrounding the ring.

"Lehrer!" Jaeger yelled, looking desperately about himself for any signs of Broken Junior, who appeared to have been swept away in the tides.

Jaeger lifted the top rope and made to duck out under it, but Road Rage grabbed his leg, tugging him back into the ring.

"You dirty cheat!" Jaeger exploded, spinning and around and smashing a fist into one of Road Rage's traffic lights.

Road Rage staggered back from the blow, shards of plastic and glass bouncing off the mat as he went.

"If you vant to fight dirty, I vill too!" Jaeger snarled, clenching his fist and drawing it back, readying himself to take out Road Rage's middle light.

But when Jaeger swung his fist forwards it hit something warm and wet, and suddenly he could not pull his arm back. Looking up Jaeger saw that Hydrazoa had leapt into his path, catching Jaeger's arm in his body. Jaeger hesitated, aware that if he moved any closer to Hydrazoa his arm would be drawn further in; but in his moment of distraction, Jaeger did not notice the next wave heading towards the ring, which hit him squarely in the back, plastering him with yet more sea-weed and small sea creatures.

Hydrazoa grabbed Jaeger's head in both hands and pulled him towards his body in an attempt to absorb the upper half of Jaeger's body. Dik Dik ran at the two Chojins, raising his Antler Fist, but Road Rage anticipated his move and leapt into his path, catching Dik Dik's wrist and blocking his attempt on Hydrazoa. On instinct, to stop his head from becoming immersed, Jaeger grabbed at Hydrazoa with his free hand, inadvertently locking his other arm into Hydrazoa's body.

Meanwhile, Road Rage turned his Rotary Saw on Dik Dik's forearm, cutting into his skin. Dik Dik quickly kicked into Road Rage's gut, upon which Road Rage released his hold of Dik Dik's arm. Dik Dik suddenly found himself falling to the mat, a look over his shoulder telling him that Road Rage had used the remaining half of his Guard Rail to clamp onto the leg Dik Dik had kicked with. Looking over his other shoulder, Dik Dik saw that Jaeger's arms were both inside Hydrazoa's body, and the lower half of one of his legs had become absorbed when Jaeger had obviously attempted to use a foot to push Hydrazoa back.

"How agile is a gazelle that only has one leg?" Road Rage asked.

Dik Dik growled in frustration, hoisting himself off the mat and swinging his free leg around to kick at Road Rage. Again Road Rage caught his ankle, this time in his hand, suspending Dik Dik upside-down. At the sound of Road Rage's Rotary Saw, Dik Dik began to panic, reaching out blindly behind himself until he found Road Rage's ankle. Grabbing on, Dik Dik pulled hard, off-setting Road Rage's balance and sending him crashing to the mat. Unfortunately, Road Rage did not release his hold of either of Dik Dik's legs, and the next thing Dik Dik felt was the Rotary Saw slicing into his calf.

Jaeger was almost completely absorbed into Hydrazoa's body, and despite struggling profusely he only seemed to be making his situation worse with every movement he made. In desperation, Jaeger swung out with an attempted Red Rain of Pain, managing to slice through Hydrazoa's body to free his arm. Jaeger tried to twist around to use his advantage to free more of himself, but in doing so, his head was drawn into Hydrazoa's body, along with his arm down to the elbow, disabling his Red Rain of Pain as he became unable to swing his arm. A glance over his shoulder told Jaeger his fears were about to be realised as Hydrazoa's Vertebreaker attack appeared, the sharp bones curling round to pierce into Jaeger's body.

Dik Dik elbowed Road Rage's legs, struggling to pull himself out from under Road Rage as he fought to prevent the loss of the lower half of his leg. He was relieved when he finally felt the saw dislodge from his flesh; but his respite was only temporary as Road Rage swung his head around, slicing a gash across Dik Dik's abdomen. The cut was not mortally deep, but vicious enough to cause a spasm of pain to lurch through Dik Dik's body, upon which Road Rage slashed at him again, cutting a second, much deeper gouge through his abdomen that tore deep into his flesh, blooding spurting into the air.

As Jaeger struggled against the Vertebreaker, his wounds deepening and widening, blood started to appear around him, Hydrazoa leapt up into the air, setting him up for the XYZ Crash.

"I can't watch this!" Amy yelped, turning to bury her face into Kevin's shoulder.

Kevin stiffened a little at first, but when Amy remained pressed against him, he slowly pressed his arm harder against her back, holding her against himself.

Dik Dik lay prostrate on the mat, his eyes glazed over, blood congealing around him as Hydrazoa dove towards the corner-post, exposing Jaeger's head to deliver his lethal finishing move.

"How did this even happen?" Kid wailed. "We were winning, what the hell happened?"

The audience cried out as Jaeger's face smashed into the corner-post, leaving Jaeger as unfit to continue as Dik Dik was. Hydrazoa dropped back into the ring and pulled Jaeger from his body, dropping him next to Dik Dik's still motionless form.

"And the winners of the second round of the Bad Blood Tournament are, Hydrazoa and Road Rage!" the compare announced to the stunned audience.

"This is really, really bad…" Meat muttered.

Sprite stood up, forcing a yawn as he turned to face the remaining Muscle Leaguers behind him.

"So boring," he said with a sigh. "I had hoped you goody-two-shoes would have at least put up a bit more of a fight… But I guess I was wrong."

"What about Jacqueline?" Meat demanded.

Sprite shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"Who cares?" he snorted.

The Anarchists filed out of their seats, leaving Checkmate, Kid, Meat and Marie to watch them go in stunned silence. Amy slowly lifted her head, looking up at Kevin.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Road Rage disembowelled Van Dik and Hydrazoa crushed Jaeger in his own rib-cage and dropped his face onto a corner-post," Kevin frankly informed her.

"You are so insensitive!" Amy snapped, pushing herself away from him. "Honestly, you haven't changed one bit!"

Amy stood abruptly, turning on her heel and walking over to Kid, who looked blue with fear. Kevin silently wondered where Mars had gone and if he had been watching the end of the match; but more importantly, he wondered, where had Edward and Fargo gone to halfway through the bout?

* * *

Roxanne sighed gently, the weight of Kiki's head on her shoulder starting to become uncomfortable. The two girls had sat down with their backs to the wall to await the return of Edward and his men, but Kiki had dozed off, her head gradually weighing down against Roxanne's shoulder. It still seemed quite early, but Roxanne was certain that she could hear The Anarchists approaching again, and so she gently shrugged her shoulder against Kiki's head, nudging her awake.

"They're coming back, Kiki," she whispered.

"Hm?" Kiki groaned sleepily. "Mars?"

"No, Kiki, wake up!" Roxanne urged, nudging harder at Kiki's head with her shoulder.

"Oh, Roxanne…" Kiki groaned, lifting her head from Roxanne's shoulder and rubbing at her eyes. "What time is it?"

"No idea, but I can hear them coming back, so look alive!"

Roxanne got to her feet as the bolt rattled on the door, Kiki slowly following her lead. Edward was the first to enter the room, and Roxanne was a little taken aback to see him standing before her without his black robe he usually hid behind.

"Good evening ladies," he greeted Roxanne and Kiki.

"What is it this time?" Kiki groaned.

"Just thought I should give you an update on the state of affairs…" Edward said casually. "We were victorious again tonight, and as such–"

"What?" Roxanne roared, cutting Edward off mid-sentence. "No way! No way did you beat Jaeger and Dik Dik!"

"Well, actually we did," Edward replied, the sound of a smile distinctly present in his voice.

"Jack?" Roxanne called, leaning to one side to look beyond Edward. "Jack, are you there?"

Edward stepped to one side of the doorway, turning to look back out.

"Miss Maekawa?" he said softly.

Roxanne faltered as Trixie walked into the room, smiling confidently and dressed in a new outfit. Kiki let out a small gasp as one of Edward's cohorts stepped in behind Trixie, holding onto her hand.

"Trixie, what the hell is going on?" Roxanne asked, her voice low.

"Jaeger and Dik Dik lost," Trixie frankly replied. "And Jacqueline almost died because they didn't save her."

"But lucky for me, I found a real, strong man to help me out," Jacqueline sighed, walking into the room and leading another member of Edward's group with her by the hand.

"Oh sh…" Roxanne muttered, backing up until her back hit the wall at what she saw.

Jacqueline was holding onto what looked like an eight-feet tall werecat.

"Jack…?" Roxanne began cautiously. "Does this mean that…?"

"That I'm joining the stronger side, yes," Jacqueline confidently replied.

"But… You can't… How could you?" Roxanne asked.

"Perhaps if you had witnessed what these ladies had, you would understand their motives," Edward answered her. "What am I saying, you will get your chance to bear witness to the destruction of your own favoured Muscle League losers in just two days' time!"

Edward slowly crossed the room towards Roxanne, who tried to back up on instinct, merely scuffing her shoes against the wall behind her.

"And when you do, know that there will be a place for you in the DMP with us," Edward said softly, stopping a short distance in front of Roxanne.

"What makes you think I even want to join you?" Roxanne asked nervously.

Edward held out his hands, eying her over deliberately.

"What sort of man lets his wife spend her honeymoon like this?" he asked.

Roxanne looked down at herself, rolling her eyes involuntarily.

"My wedding dress is ruined now, thanks to you keeping us in this place!" she snapped at Edward.

"On the contrary, my dear," Edward replied smoothly. "Your dress has been ruined because your husband has not bothered making more of an attempt to rescue you, or your friends."

"My husband is…" Roxanne began, suddenly forgetting just what she had intended to say.

"What your husband is and is not will be clear to all when he fights my men," Edward finished for her. "And you will be there to witness that first-hand. I look forward to hearing how your opinion changes at that time."

Edward turned his back on Roxanne, ushering the others out of the room. Kiki stepped forwards to watch them go, jerking involuntarily as Edward slammed the door shut between them.

"What a horrible man!" Kiki said, shaking her head. "Trixie and Jacqueline are just upset, they'll come around. Still, I can't believe the Muscle League lost a second time. Those DMP guys must be pretty strong."

"Kiki, aren't you scared?" Roxanne asked in a hushed voice.

Kiki blinked up at her curiously. Roxanne fought back the urge to cry, her emotions swirling inside her gut.

"Kiki, I don't know if I'm happy that none of this is bothering you, or if I'm seriously pissed off that none of this is bothering you," she said firmly.

"But this is bothering me, Roxanne!" Kiki replied. "Of course it is! I'm being held prisoner away from my family and Mars, the Muscle League have lost two out of four fights, and two of our friends have defected to the DMP!"

"Kiki, do you think that…" Roxanne began, looking down at her hands as she began to fidget nervously. "Do you think that the Muscle League have maybe gotten a bit weak lately? I mean, with the Chojin Crown and all, they haven't really had to fight against any really evil opponents for a long time now…"

"The Chojin Crown was tough for everyone involved, and I remember that Mars, Kid Muscle and Kevin Mask all made it to the end, which means they are the toughest Chojins outside of the DMP," Kiki replied confidently. "And I don't believe that Edward Mask or any of his friends are tougher than Mars, Kid or Kevin."

"You seem really sure…"

"That's because I am."

"Do you think Edward's exaggerating? The matches don't seem to last very long, do you think his guys really do totally over-power the Muscle League?"

"I doubt that. But we'll both have our chances to find out for ourselves. The next fight is Kid and Checkmate, remember."

Roxanne nodded her head slowly, her mind still reeling. She was torn between trusting in Kid Muscle's strength and fearing that Jacqueline was maybe right after all: maybe The Anarchists were the stronger team.

"I guess I'll find out then," Roxanne eventually answered Kiki, forcing a smile for her friend's benefit.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** In light of the Muscle League's lack of success to best The Anarchists, Mars decides it's time to get serious, and Kevin endures more awkwardness. **Chapter 11 – Endgame**. 


	11. Endgame

**A/N:** It probably seems like I am being harsh on the Muscle League in this fic, but it wouldn't really make for much of a story if a new faction of the DMP showed up and the Muscle League flattened them effortlessly. It will be worth it in the end (which is still many, many chapters away yet…) I promise!

Basically, this is just another daft chapter to lighten the mood…

**Recap:** The second round of the Bad Blood Tournament ended in disaster again for the Muscle League, and Jacqueline decided to follow Trixie's lead and join The Anarchists.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Endgame**

"This can't continue!" Meat said firmly, thumping a fist onto the table. "We're getting' slaughtered out there!"

Meat rested both hands on the low table, leaning over it to address the three Chojins sat cross-legged on the floor at the other side of the table.

"It's time for "Plan B", boys," he said seriously.

Kid Muscle raised his hand quietly.

"What is it, Kid?" Meat asked him.

"What's "Plan B", Meat?" Kid asked him.

"It means we gotta start fightin' fire with fire, Kid!" Meat firmly replied. "If these guys can't fight a clean fight, we gotta step up our game and… Where the hell is Mars?"

Meat turned to Kevin Mask with his question, and, looking to his side, Kevin saw Checkmate and Kid looking at him expectantly too.

"No idea," Kevin flatly replied, turning back to Meat. "I haven't seen him since he walked out of the Ocean Dome yesterday afternoon."

Meat sighed, hanging his head in despair.

"Look, it's bad enough we got three guys in intensive care and one stitched up so bad he can't even walk, we don't anybody runnin' off on us," he said, lifting his head again to address Kevin.

"I thought it made an interesting change from Kid Muscle tying a handkerchief filled with crap around a stick, hoisting it over his shoulder and creeping off like the coward that he is," Kevin offered.

"This ain't no time for jokes, Kevin!" Meat warned. "And I'm surprised at you wisecrackin' at a time like this!"

"So did Mars run away?" Kid asked, leaning past Checkmate to look at Kevin again.

"I don't know, but I do know that it's best to just let him go at a time like this," Kevin replied. "He'll be back once he has calmed down sufficiently to start behaving like an adult again."

"That doesn't help any of us too much," Meat said darkly. "Unless he's off findin' out some important weaknesses in our opponents, he's no use to us right now."

"He'll be back," Kevin insisted. "He would never abandon Kiki like that."

"But what about after he fought me in the replacement matches and he lost?" Kid asked. "He ran off and left Kiki then."

"That was different, he left because he thought she didn't want him around, and…" Kevin slowly stopped himself, a small growl echoing around his mask. "I can't believe I'm getting dragged into this bloody soap opera! Mars will be back, you just have to trust in him!"

"I don't trust him," Meat immediately said.

"What?" Kevin snapped, turning back to Meat.

"Well he was lookin' really guilty about somethin' yesterday when Edward accused him of bein' an undercover Devil Chojin," Meat explained.

Kevin looked around the faces watching him in anticipation of some sort of explanation for Mars's odd behaviour the day before. Unfortunately, Kevin had no definitive answer to their unspoken question; he suspected he knew what Edward had been teasing Mars about, and if he was right, he also knew it was something Mars would not want to discuss with anyone other than Kiki, and so Kevin was not about to propose the idea to the merry band of idiots around him.

"You just have to trust him," Kevin insisted.

Meat pulled a sceptical face at Kevin, but Kevin chose to ignore it, instead staring silently back at Meat. Meat eventually sighed, holding up a hand in defeat.

"Let's concentrate on the fight tomorrow then," he said, turning to Kid and Checkmate. "We need to really think this one through."

* * *

"Thanks for picking me up, Marie," Amy said with a smile as Marie pulled away in her car. 

"Oh no problem," Marie replied. "It smells wonderful, I hope you made enough for us too!"

"Oh, yeah!" Amy said. "I just figured the guys probably needed something to keep their spirits up after yesterday."

"Hm," Marie mumbled, her knuckles whitening against the steering wheel.

"I know it must be really hard for you," Amy said gently. "But I honestly don't think Roxanne is in any danger."

"What about Jacqueline McMadd?"

Amy fell silent, averting her eyes as she tried to find something sympathetic, and yet realistic, to reply with. Unfortunately, as she thought back to the time when she followed Kevin Mask and Mars around at the old DMP headquarters, her memories of Edward Mask were largely unpleasant. He had been a neurotic teenage boy with an unhealthy fixation with Mars, a bitter resentment towards his family and a partiality for petty crime; she had witnessed on several occasions Edward, along with Fargo and Master DJ, jumping ordinary citizens in the streets and stealing their money, showing no consideration for the fact that they were vastly more powerful than the people they were attacking.

Amy tried not to think that Kid Muscle's wife was in any danger. She had grown quite fond of the Muscle family in her time working for them; King Muscle had proved to be a benevolent boss, and through the king's love of his son, Amy had grown to like him herself. She tried to focus on the hope that tomorrow Kid Muscle and Checkmate would break the Muscle League's losing streak and come home victorious, with Roxanne at their side.

Amy looked out the window at her side, her face dropping at what she saw.

"Stop the car!" she yelped.

"What?" Marie asked, frowning at her as though she had gone mad.

"Just stop the car, now!" Amy insisted.

Marie slammed on the brakes, stopping abruptly in the middle of the road.

"What's the emergency?" she asked dryly.

"Park up, I'll be back in a minute," Amy replied, yanking off her seatbelt and throwing open the door.

Marie made a small noise of confusion, but did as she had been asked and pulled the car off the road once Amy had left and waited for her to return.

Meanwhile, Amy ran back down the road in the direction they had just come, shouldering her way through a doorway before stumbling to a halt. She stood breathless in the middle of the unusual shop, looking around herself curiously before looking ahead to the man watching her from behind the counter and his apparent customer.

"Hi," she said, offering them a small smile. "I just… I was just passing, and I saw you come in here, and I thought maybe, since you're so far away here, you might like a ride back to Beverly Park?"

The shop owner turned to the man standing at his counter expectantly.

"What da hell are you doin' in a place like dis?" Mars asked, thinning his eyes at Amy.

"I was just passing," Amy replied, pointing over her shoulder. "Marie picked me up, she was taking me back to Beverly Park, I thought you would probably be heading that way yourself."

"I got somethin' I gotta do right here," Mars replied, turning his back on her.

"Oh…" Amy said slowly, dragging a hand across her forehead to clear the sweat that had developed from her desperate chase to catch Mars. "Shall I just tell the others that you're on your way?" she asked.

"You tell dose Muscle Losers it's endgame," Mars said without turning round. "Checkers and Mask will know what I mean."

Amy nodded, resisting the urge to ask him to explain to her just what he meant.

"Okay, well, I'll tell them you said that," she said, slowly backing up.

Amy paused by the door, watching Mars for a moment longer; but still he kept his back turned to her, and so she slid outside again, running back to where Marie had parked her car.

"Sorry about that," she said as she sat back into the car, pulling her seatbelt on again.

Amy turned to Marie, who was looking at her expectantly, her eyebrows raised in anticipation of an explanation.

"I saw Mars," Amy explained. "I thought maybe he would want to come with us, it's a long way to walk from here to Beverly Park."

"And he said no?" Marie asked.

"He said he had something he had to do first," Amy replied, nodding her head.

Marie squinted at her rear-view mirror for a moment before turning back to Amy.

"I don't mean to sound like a nag here, but my daughter has been taken prisoner, I don't even know if she's still alive," Marie began slowly. "I'm counting on these wrestlers to get her back for me, and one of them is wasting valuable training and planning time getting his ears pierced?"

Amy shrank back from Marie, grinning nervously.

"You don't know that!" she offered. "They do tattoos in that shop too!"

Marie narrowed her eyes at Amy, who laughed sheepishly.

"I know it looks bad, but I've never known Mars to back down from a challenge," Amy said, trying to be as supportive as she could to Roxanne's adoptive mother. "I've known him a long time, and although it usually looks like he doesn't care and he's slacking off, that's not the case. He's the only wrestler I know today who has graduated from the Hercules Factory and the DMP, and I'm sure he's as worried about the girls and about winning as everyone else is, he just doesn't show it in the same way."

Marie turned back to the road, squeezing at the steering wheel again.

"I don't know what I'll do if the boys lose tomorrow night," she said softly.

"Don't worry, that's not going to happen!" Amy assured her.

Amy nodded her head.

"You're right," she said, putting the car into gear and checking her mirrors. "After the last two rounds, they must realise how serious this is."

"Exactly!" Amy said cheerfully. "That's the spirit!"

* * *

"I'm not doing it, I'm not crazy!" Kid yelled at Meat. 

"How else can you prepare for something if ya don't practise?" Meat yelled back.

"This isn't practise!" Kid wailed. "Kevin doesn't know what the word practise means! He doesn't understand how to take it easy, he still tries to kill me even when it's just meant to be a workout! He takes everything totally seriously!"

"Kevin's just tryin' to help ya, Kid!" Meat shouted.

"But he's scaring me!"

"If you're scared of me, how can you expect to stand up to the DMP?" Kevin snapped at Kid.

"But they're not as scary as you!" Kid sobbed.

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"You take everything too far!" Kid added.

"You don't take things far enough!" Kevin roared, grabbing handfuls of Kid's wrestling outfit and shaking him. "I am being serious because this is serious!"

"But I have to fight an evil skeleton on Halloween!" Kid shrieked.

"And your other opponent is a fairy, and you have Checkmate on your team!" Kevin argued back.

"But you're so mean!"

Kid dropped to his knees in the sand, and proceeded to positively infuriate Kevin by gathering handfuls of sand and sculpting them into a barely legible castle of sorts.

"Get up, you idiot!" Kevin growled, kicking the "castle" over, the sand flying into Kid Muscle's face.

"I was right, you are a bully!" Kid wailed, clamping his hands over his eyes. "You kicked sand in my face!"

"I say, that was a rather unfortunate faux pas, Kevin," Checkmate pointed out.

"It's in my eyes!" Kid cried. "I'm blind!"

"Aw geez Kevin, I think you went a bit too far!" Meat said.

"You suck!" Kid moaned, aimlessly throwing handfuls of sand at Kevin's knees.

"You lack discipline!" Kevin argued back, leaning over Kid.

"Hey, is that a shot at me?" Meat stepped in, brandishing a fist at Kevin.

"Everything okay here?"

Kevin, Meat and Checkmate turned to the source of the new voice.

"Uh, hey Marie!" Meat said nervously, waving a hand at her. "We were just…"

"I can't see!" Kid wailed. "Kevin Mask blinded me!"

Kevin looked down at Kid, whose face was, admittedly, covered in sand, before turning back to the two women standing at the other side of the sandpit watching them curiously. Marie looked slightly bemused by what she saw, but Amy appeared to be flitting between feeling sorry for Kid Muscle and getting angry at Kevin.

"This isn't what it looks like," Kevin began. "We were just…"

Amy scowled darkly at Kevin, marching across the sand. Her arms were folded through what looked like a giant picnic hamper, and as she drew nearer, the welcoming scent of warm food came with her.

"Kid, are you okay?" she asked gently, kneeling down in front of Kid.

"Food!" Kid squealed, suddenly forgetting his agonies and grabbing the basket from Amy.

"I thought you guys might enjoy a good meal," Amy said, looking up at Meat. "I know Kid and Checkmate can't eat too much tomorrow, the day of their match."

"So what your basically saying is that you have just brought Kid Muscle his last supper?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

Amy turned to glare up at him disdainfully.

"I brought food for everyone, although I don't know why I bothered my arse cooking for you and birdface!" she retorted indignantly. "And speaking of Mars, I met him on my way over here."

"You did?" Meat hurriedly asked, stepping towards Amy. "Where?"

"He was at a…" Amy began, her voice trailing off as she looked over her shoulder at Marie.

"Amy asked him if he wanted to come back here with us, and he refused," Marie said.

Amy was a little relieved that Marie had calmed down from earlier and that she had not just blurted out Mars's bizarre whereabouts to his team-mates.

"That's right," Amy agreed, turning back to Meat. "He said he had some business he had to take care of, but he did ask me to pass on a message to you all."

"If it includes the words "forfeit" or "death match", I don't wanna hear it," Meat said.

"No, he said probably only Checkmate and Kevin would understand," Amy said, turning to Checkmate and Kevin as she spoke. "He said to tell you it's "endgame"."

Kevin nodded his understanding, turning to Checkmate, who nodded his head to confirm that he too understood Mars's meaning.

"Endgame?" Kid echoed. "End what game?"

"Endgame usually means we're runnin' out of options to win, Kid," Meat answered him.

"It means something slightly different in the DMP," Kevin said quietly. "But you've got the general idea. I think maybe it's the same as your "Plan B" strategy, Meat. Mars is implying that to best our foe we have to think like he does and fight like he does."

"Right!" Meat said confidently, smacking a fist into his open palm. "Kevin, you find Mars and start figurin' out a way to beat these guys. Checkmate, you're with me, and Kid… Aw, Kid!"

Meat sighed in despair as he found Kid happily munching his way through what appeared to be his second bowl of beef teriyaki from Amy's hamper.

"I guess we should let him enjoy himself while he can," Amy said gently.

Meat nodded, though his face suggested he did not entirely agree with Amy's words.

"I'll leave this with you all, I have to get going," Amy said, standing up and brushing the sand from her knees.

"Where are you rushing off to?" Kevin grunted.

Amy turned to him, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Not that I care of course," Kevin scoffed.

"Well…" Amy began slowly. "I just have some things I need to do while I'm here on Earth."

"Doesn't sound that important to me," Meat said bluntly.

"Hey!" Amy yelped, turning to him in alarm.

"Look, you don't seem like you're that busy to me, and aren't you the girl who knows a lot about the DMP?" Meat asked.

"Well I wouldn't say that I know a lot about the DMP–" Amy began.

"You probably know more than most of us," Meat cut her off. "And if you know anything about The Anarchists, that could be really useful to us."

"Well, I doubt I know any more than Mars or Kevin–"

"Why don't you help Kevin track Mars down, you said you know where he is, right?"

"Um…"

"And then I need you to do me a big favour…"

Amy hesitated, watching Meat as he beckoned her to come closer. She reluctantly crouched down in front of him, tensing in expectation of something vastly unpleasant.

"Just stick with them until this thing is all over, yeah?" Meat asked her quietly.

"I can't do that!" Amy whispered.

"Sure you can!" Meat said confidently, patting her on the shoulder. "Just make sure they're workin' hard, and make sure we all know everything we need to know about these Anarchists, okay?"

"Uh…" Amy began, her eyes darting about as she tried desperately to find an excuse. "I really can't do that, Meat."

"Why not?" Meat hissed, gripping into her shoulder.

"Because I… I left Earth in a hurry when I took the job with King Muscle, and there were a lot of things I left behind, I've been trying to get them sorted out so that when I go back to Muscle Planet everything is in order," Amy replied.

"Miss, the world is in danger here," Meat said firmly. "I'm only askin' you to spend a few days with Kevin Mask and Mars. How hard can that be?"

Amy turned to look up at Kevin, her face paling.

"Harder than you could ever possibly know," she grumbled, turning back to Meat. "But since you're asking me to do this, and you are a good friend of King Muscle, I will say yes."

"Good girl!" Meat said with a smile.

Amy slowly stood up, turning to face Kevin, who was standing with his hands on his hips, staring at her with an unreadable expression; although, she reminded herself, his face was always unreadable thanks to his mask, leaving her to largely rely upon his body language to read his true intentions.

"I'll take you to where I last saw Mars," she offered, stepping towards Kevin.

"Alright," Kevin agreed, to her surprise.

"Do you have transport?" Amy asked.

"No, do you?"

"Yes actually I do."

Kevin tilted his head curiously as Amy's face turned paler still.

"I came by this way this morning on my bike, and Marie agreed if I left my bike at her house, she would drive back to my apartment with me in her car to pick up the food I was making," she explained.

"Your bike?" Kevin asked. "Your motorbike?"

"Um… Yeah, it's a motorbike… I left it with an old friend when I went to work for King Muscle, but she didn't sell it yet, and my old boss kept my apartment free. I guess they thought things might not work out for me and I would have come back to Earth again."

Kevin nodded slowly, before looking back over his shoulder at Suminoe Kindergarten. A quick survey of the area only showed a car, leaving Kevin feeling even more confused.

"I left it in the shed out back," Amy offered, sensing his confusion as she saw him looking about. "If you're alright riding with me, I don't mind taking you there, it's on the way back to my place anyway."

Kevin's head snapped around, his mind suddenly processing exactly what was happening. First of all, Amy was suggesting that he sit behind her on a motorbike, which was a little claustrophobic for his liking, especially after her volatile outburst when they had been stuck in the goods elevator together. Secondly, Kevin had never thought of Amy as having a place that she lived. It was ridiculous really, of course she must have lived somewhere, but having spent most of his life sleeping in caves, hotels, buses, airplanes and just on the streets sometimes, a home had always been a slightly alien concept to Kevin.

"Alright," he said.

"Alright," Amy said with a nod of her head, walking past him.

As she passed him she turned her head downwards slightly, but not before Kevin saw her bite at her lip, a worried frown working onto her features. He grabbed his coat from the wall he had thrown it over earlier, pulling it on as he followed Amy out of Beverly Park.

"I don't have a spare helmet, but I don't suppose you really need one, right?" she said over her shoulder.

"No, I'm fine," Kevin replied, feeling less than fine however as a small wooden tool shed came into sight, and Amy appeared to walking straight towards it.

"It's just here," she explained, opening the latch on the door.

"In there?" Kevin asked, pointing at the shed dubiously.

Amy nodded, pulling open the door. At first, Kevin wondered if she was playing another Kid-Muscle-inspired prank, because all he could see inside the shed were rows of gardening equipment hanging from the walls, presumably to tend to the gardens around the pre-school.

"I know what you're thinking," Amy said with a weary sigh. "It's not exactly a Kawasaki, or whatever 1200cc monster it is that you usually ride yourself, but it suited me for just… Riding about the city…"

Kevin's face dropped as he finally spotted the metallic object in the middle of the floor of the shed. On one hand he felt stupid for not having noticed it sooner, but on the other hand he felt justified in failing to spot the miniscule scooter that was all but hidden amidst the garden shovels and rakes.

"The lawnmower is bigger than your bike," Kevin said bluntly, pointing at the lawnmower sitting behind the back wheel of Amy's pitiful little bike.

"Well if you're going to be an ass about it, you can just walk!" Amy snapped, kicking back the kickstand and wheeling her bike out into daylight.

"Oh for…" Kevin began, groaning in disbelief as daylight fell across the little excuse for a motorbike, showing him that it was in fact powder pink in colour. "I can't be seen on that ridiculous little thing."

"Then you can walk," Amy flatly told him. "Where is your bike anyway?"

"At my hotel," Kevin replied.

"So go get it and we'll meet up downtown," Amy suggested, unhooking her helmet from the handlebars.

"Your helmet is pink too!" Kevin blurted.

"Yes, well done!" Amy sneered, rolling her eyes. "But y'know this helmet and this bike still aren't as pink as your shirt."

Kevin looked down at his T-shirt on instinct, instantly regretting his action.

"Are you coming with me or not?" Amy asked, sitting onto the little pink scooter and looking up at Kevin expectantly, making the image all the more absurd in Kevin's eyes.

"Where do you expect me to sit?" he asked, holding his hands towards the minimal seating space.

"Behind me, you idiot!" she snapped irritably. "Just shut-up and get on already! Which hotel are you at, I'll take you there to collect your bike and then you can follow me back to where I saw Mars."

Kevin moved his hands around a little, words failing him as he tried to find a good reason not to get on the bike behind Amy.

"Shut-up and get on!" she yelled ferociously, starting the engine with a pathetic purr.

Kevin sighed, stepped over the bike and sitting down behind Amy, regretting his action even more than he had expected he would when he found himself very tightly wedged between the low handle at the back of the seats and Amy's back. Reaching his hands behind himself, Kevin realised he could not hold onto the handle there because he was so tightly pressed against it, leaving him at a loss of where to put his hands.

"Which hotel?" Amy asked.

Kevin started to answer her but his words were taken from him as she pulled away and he jerked back in the seat. She turned out of Beverly Park in a way that implied the imitation motorcycle would not be going anywhere very fast; but once she was out onto the main road she suddenly took off, and Kevin found himself grabbing at her sweater to hold himself in place.

"The Hilton Tokyo," Kevin shouted.

"The what?" Amy echoed, looking back over her shoulder at him.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Kevin snapped at her.

Amy made a noise as she turned away, but over the ratty sound of the scooter's engine and the wind whistling through the joins in Kevin's mask, he could not be sure if she had actually said something or just grunted.

"I know you superhuman wrestlers are paid a pittance, and I know you personally don't go in for celebrity endorsements and sponsorships," she shouted back to him, keeping her head forward as he had asked her to. "So why the hell are you staying somewhere as expensive as the Hilton?"

"They have a nice English pub that plays jazz music and they serve a full English breakfast," Kevin honestly answered her.

As Kevin was still gripping onto Amy's sweater at her sides, he felt her suddenly shudder against his hands, her scooter slowly losing momentum.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as her head dipped a few times.

"Oh my God Kevin, only a Londoner could come to Japan and not partake in the local culture!" she said through unrestrained laughter. "You're pathetic, you know that? How can you spend so much time here and not want to enjoy the great local food!"

"I don't like fancy nonsense," Kevin haughtily replied. "Just a good breakfast and a beer in a nice quiet atmosphere."

Kevin yelped as Amy almost swerved off the road, her laughter now clearly audible, and even more grating on the senses than the sound of her girly little scooter.

"Stop it, I can't concentrate!" she pleaded, straightening up and speeding up again, breathing deeply as she tried to contain her laughter. "You are so tightly wound! I've really missed you Kevin Mask, I'd forgotten how much you made me laugh!"

"You're laughing at me though, not with me!" Kevin pointed out. "That's just rude, you saucy little minx!"

"Stop it Kevin, please!"

Amy snorted and choked, swaying a little on the road before righting herself again. Kevin was certain he could see tears in her eyes, though he was genuinely at a loss as to just what she found so damn amusing.

"Oh no, Mars!" she suddenly yelped, swerving around into a sharp U-turn.

"Bloody hell woman!" Kevin cried out as a car shot past them, blaring its horn as it barely missed catching the side of the scooter.

Looking over Amy's shoulder Kevin soon saw just why she had suddenly changed their course as she pulled over to the side of the road next to what looked to be Mars's crumpled form.

"Mars!" Kevin grunted, leaping off the scooter before it had completely come to a halt.

"Mars?" Amy asked, parking her scooter and hurrying over to Kevin's side.

Mars was on his knees on the sidewalk, his head pressed against his legs, his hands clutched against his head.

"Mars, what happened here?" Kevin demanded.

Mars slowly sat back, his eyes closed, emitting small sniffling sounds as he did so. He slowly opened one eye, looking at Kevin, then Amy and finally at the scooter behind them before closing his eyes again and opening his mouth wide to laugh out loud. Kevin straightened his back, watching blandly as Mars collapsed to the ground again, thumping a fist against the concrete.

"Mars?" Amy asked curiously.

"Aw, dat was just too sweet!" Mars said breathlessly, sitting up again to wipe tears of laughter from his eyes.

Amy started in surprise as he reached forwards and grabbed one of her hands in both of his.

"Thank you for dat, it was just what I needed to cheer me up!" he said, looking genuinely serious.

"Wh… What?" Amy asked quietly.

"Excellent," he said, nodding his head. "Just… Beautiful."

Amy watched Mars slowly get to his feet, chuckling a little as he looked at her scooter again.

"Just do it for me one more time, yeah?" he asked, dropping Amy's hand and circling one finger in the general direction of the road.

"What?" Amy asked.

"That wasn't meant as a bloody joke for your amusement, Mars!" Kevin cut in. "I left my bike at the hotel, Amy was taking me back to collect it."

Mars looked back and forth between Kevin and Amy, looking suddenly confused.

"What, you and horse-face on an itty-bitty pink scooter was for real?" he asked Kevin.

Kevin sighed, clapping a hand against his mask.

"Where the bloody hell have you been anyway?" he said, deciding to change the subject by confronting Mars.

Mars pulled a face at him as though he had just asked something absurd before answering.

"I was here," he said, pointing at the ground around him as though the answer should have been obvious.

"No you bloody great idiot, where did you go yesterday during the…" Kevin began, trailing off into a sigh as Mars began to snort again. "It's really not funny, Mars."

"Sure it is!" Mars disagreed. "I got it right here, I'ma put dis on Youtube!"

Mars held up his phone, grinning mischievously at Kevin.

"You can't put a video of me and Kevin Mask on Youtube!" Amy intercepted, making a grab for Mars's phone. "People might recognise me I couldn't ever live that one down!"

"People might recognise you?" Kevin yelped. "Far more people will recognise me! I'm the reigning Chojin Crown Champion, I can't be seen balancing on a stupid little girl bike with a stupid little girl!"

Mars began to laugh out loud again, and as Kevin and Amy turned to him, they found him watching a replay of their approach on his phone.

"Give me that!" Kevin said sternly, snatching the phone from Mars.

"Hey!" Mars protested.

"We have much bigger things to worry about right now!" Kevin reminded him.

"Hey!" Mars yelled, staring in disbelief as Kevin flung his phone against the wall of a nearby shop, shattering it into pieces. "What if somebody tries to call me, huh?"

"Mars, you are easily the most conspicuous man to ever have graced this world, I'm sure anyone who wants to find you will be able to find you," Kevin said sarcastically. "And I don't want you spreading stupid videos of me in a moment of weakness!"

Mars grinned, avoiding Kevin's eyes at his last words, sucking in air through his teeth.

"What?" Kevin asked; although he was already sure he probably did not really wish to hear the answer.

"I already sent dat video to Kiki and Jaeger," Mars said slowly.

"Oh bloody hell!" Kevin groaned. "Well at least one is in hospital and can't do anything about it, and the other doesn't have her phone with her."

"And Buffaloman…" Mars added, his voice slightly quieter.

Kevin twitched involuntarily.

"Well, I'm sure he won't make a big deal out of it…" he said tightly.

"And King Muscle…" Mars said, his voice quieter still.

"King Muscle?" Kevin repeated. "But why?"

"And, uh," Mars began, before coughing out something indecipherable.

"What?" Kevin echoed. "Who?"

"Uh… Robin Mask," Mars muttered hurriedly.

"You sent a video of me riding that ridiculous pile of crap to my father?" Kevin roared, taking a step towards Mars aggressively.

"I really appreciate what you've done for me, Kev," Mars said, looking up at Kevin, his face looking suddenly serious. "In my time of worry for my girl, and anger at da Muscle League, you really helped me out wid your little stunt."

"It wasn't a stunt…" Kevin growled. "Look, forget it, we need to talk. Where are you staying?"

"Huh?" Mars asked.

"Where are you staying?" Kevin asked. "Which hotel?"

"Oh, uh, I'm stayin' wid Kiki's parents," Mars replied.

Kevin sighed quietly, shuddering at the thought of Mars in Kiki's house with her middle class, clean-living family.

"Come to my hotel and stay with me so that we can talk," Kevin told him.

"I can't afford to stay at da Hilton, Kev," Mars replied honestly.

"You can stay at my place if you like!"

Kevin and Mars turned to Amy, who was smiling sweetly at them. After a few seconds her smile faded and she started to look confused.

"Did I just say that?" she muttered.

"Where do you stay?" Mars asked her.

"N-not far from the Hilton, actually," Amy reluctantly replied. "You're welcome to stay if it's convenient. I live above the restaurant I was working at before King Muscle offered me a job on his staff."

Kevin turned to Mars, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess dat makes sense, I'd be closer to where you're at," he concluded.

"But…" Kevin began, turning back to Amy.

"You're welcome to stay too, if you want," Amy offered, her face twitching as the words left her mouth. "I can't promise you the ambience of a traditional English pub, or a greasy fry up in the morning, but it's comfortable."

"Yeah, Kev likes da Hilton because dey serve English food," Mars said to Amy. "And dey gotta pub called "St. George's Bar"."

"No way!" Amy giggled. "St. George's? Ha!"

"It's not funny!" Kevin snapped. "And how do you propose we get to the hotel for my bike now that there are three of us?"

Amy fell silent, looking at Kevin, Mars and her scooter in turn.

"Well…" she began thoughtfully. "How about I give Mars the keys to my apartment, he can start walking there, I'll take you to the Hilton to get your bike, and then we can ride back to my place and meet Mars there."

Kevin frowned, glancing back and forth between Amy and Mars.

"Did I miss something here?" he asked. "You trust this man to be alone in your apartment?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"I took all my most important personal effects out of there when I left," she plainly replied. "It's no big deal."

"No," Kevin said, shaking his head. "I don't trust him in your apartment."

"Hey!" Mars snapped.

"Give me the keys, I'll go to your apartment," Kevin suggested.

"Okay," Amy said lightly. "Then I'll take Mars to the Hilton to get your stuff from your room, and he can ride your bike back to my place."

"Alright!" Mars said cheerfully, clapping his hands together.

"Absolutely no way!" Kevin said, holding up a hand in front of Mars.

"Then I'll go back to my apartment on foot, and you two can take my bike to the Hilton," Amy offered.

Kevin baulked as Amy pointed at her miniscule excuse for a motorcycle; he was sure the smile on her face was verging on malicious.

"Well, that's not even an option, Mars and I would never both fit on that thing," Kevin told Amy.

"I ain't going on dat little piece o' crap," Mars said flatly. "I got some dignity, yeah? Gimme da keys and tell me where I gotta go."

"Do you know where Hiroshi's Hot House is?" Amy asked, dangling a set of keys in front of Mars.

"Everybody in Tokyo knows where Hiroshi's Hot House is!" Mars replied.

Amy turned to Kevin, who looked away.

"Except Kev," Mars added with a smirk.

"The green door with number 32 on it," Amy continued. "The gold key will open that door, once you are inside, go up two flights of stairs and you'll see a black door. The silver key will open the black door, and that's you in."

"Black door?" Kevin echoed. "You got a black door, but you had to get a pink bike?"

Amy sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

"Let's just get this over with," she suggested, pulling on her helmet again and hopping onto her scooter.

Kevin turned to Mars, who was standing with his arms folded, facing the scooter, a huge grin plastered across his face.

"Shouldn't you be moving?" Kevin asked him.

"Nah, I gotta see dis one more time," Mars replied, waving a hand dismissively at Kevin.

Kevin sighed in defeat, climbing onto the scooter and wedging himself against Amy one more time, trying to block out the sound of Mars's laughter as Amy swung around in another U-turn, setting them back on course for the Hilton.

* * *

"It smells of food in here." 

Kevin let out an "oof" as Amy flung a pillow into his face.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to say something like that about a lady's house?" she asked snippily.

"Well, you're not exactly a lady…" Kevin muttered.

"You can sleep on the couch," Amy told him.

"What about Mars?" Kevin asked.

"I'm fine!" Mars called from his position sprawled across the middle of the sitting room floor, mere inches from the small television set.

"I have to sleep next to him?" Kevin asked as he located the couch immediately behind Mars.

"This apartment only has two other rooms," Amy began tightly. "One is my bedroom, the other is the bathroom."

"I could sleep in the bathroom," Kevin began.

"No you could not!" Amy immediately stopped him. "Just sleep on a couch for once in your life!"

"That's not the point!" Kevin snapped. "You don't understand! Mars and his irksome little girlfriend live in my house, I never get away from them! It was quite pleasant sleeping in the hotel!"

"It was your suggestion that Mars stay close to you," Amy reminded him, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"You really have no idea the pain I am forced to endure playing host to those two," Kevin whispered to her.

"I can still hear ya, Mask!" Mars snapped, his eyes still fixed on the television.

"Well when I agreed that you and Kiki could live with me, I never expected it would mean having that green-haired, freckle-faced menace prancing around the place singing her stupid pop songs and carrying around that idiotic and impractical little bag with that stupid little white cat on it!"

"Huh?" Mars asked, rolling onto his elbows and turning his head in Kevin's direction.

"You know the one I mean, she has pencils and erasers and handbags and all manners of nonsense with that stupid little cat on it!" Kevin continued.

Kevin paused thoughtfully. Amy turned to Mars, who shrugged his shoulders as best he could in his position to confirm that he was as clueless about Kevin's latest rant as she was. Kevin suddenly snapped his fingers in realisation, pointing at Amy.

"Hello Pussy!" he said loudly.

Amy squeaked, staggering back out of the doorway and gaping at Kevin in unabated horror.

"What did you just say?" Mars asked quietly, hurriedly getting to his feet.

"Hello Pussy," Kevin casually replied, flicking a thumb in Amy's direction. "She knows what I'm talking about."

Mars turned to Amy, his eyes widening, a suppressed smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Do you know what he's talkin' about?" he asked her.

"It's Hello Kitty, you... You… Ugh!" Amy said to Kevin, before taking another step back from him.

"Kitty, Pussy, it's the same bloody thing to me!" Kevin said dismissively.

"Not really Kev," Mars said quietly.

"Yes it is!" Kevin insisted. "It was an easy mistake to make! I can't help it, being around her all the time!"

Amy yelped as Kevin pointed at her.

"She's always hanging around me with her stupid girly things, I've got pussy on the brain thanks to her!"

Mars stiffened, taking a large step back from Kevin as Amy re-entered the room.

* * *

The next morning, Kevin awoke with a groan, opening his eyes and curiously blinking at his surroundings. As the vestiges of sleep slowly lifted, Kevin began to remember exactly where he was. For some entirely inexplicable reason, Amy had chased him out of her apartment the night before, smacking him with a pillow the whole way. The last thing he clearly remembered was her screaming the word "pervert" at him before throwing the pillow at his head and slamming the door in his face, leaving him to sleep on the communal hall floor outside her front door. 

Kevin lifted his head, groaning a little at the realisation that he had slept in his mask, leaving him with a throbbing headache where his skull had been pressed against the metal. Amy had at least given him a pillow to rest his head on, but he had been unwilling to remove his mask in such a public venue; although since his face had been revealed in the finals of the Chojin Crown, he could not really be sure why he still felt the need to hide his features. He reasoned that old habits really did die hard, sitting up and gathering the pillow under one arm.

A young couple began descending the stairs from the floor above, both falling silent as they spotted Kevin. Kevin got to his feet, bowing his head politely to them as they passed, even though they appeared to be staring at him in a distinct mixture of fear and confusion. As they began to descend the next set of stairs, Kevin heard the woman mention his name, and he promptly turned to Amy's door, knocking loudly, not wishing to have to deal with fans, least of all so early in the morning.

"Amy?" he called, knocking relentlessly on the door.

"Yeah?" Mars answered, pulling open the door.

Kevin paused, a little taken aback to find Mars answering the door of Amy's apartment.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"I dunno," Mars replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You was way outta line last night."

"It was just…" Kevin began shaking his head. "Look, just let me in!"

Kevin shoved past Mars, walking into the sitting room and kitchen area, where he found Amy pouring freshly made soup into a bowl.

"Kevin," she said tightly without looking up. "I made breakfast for you too. But it's local cuisine: miso soup and rice."

Kevin nodded his head, sniffing at the air. The food certainly smelled entirely edible, and he was quite hungry.

"Look, about last night," he began.

"I don't want to talk about it," Amy said firmly, still avoiding looking at Kevin.

"But I really think that you over-reacted," Kevin explained.

"Kev…" Mars muttered, elbowing Kevin hard in the ribs. "Quit while you're ahead, yeah?"

"No, look, Amy, I meant to say Kitty," Kevin insisted. "Pussy was just a slip of the tongue."

Mars turned away, sniggering into his hand. Amy looked up from the food she was serving, tilting her head to one side as she regarded Kevin thoughtfully.

"Well, one thing I never thought about you Kevin was that would be such an insensitive jerk, with such a low, dirty sense of humour," she said darkly.

"What?" Kevin echoed.

Amy picked up one of the bowls of soup, walking around the counter to Kevin. Before Kevin could predict what she was about to do, she grabbed the spike on top of his mask, tugging back, forcing him to look up at the ceiling. Kevin yelped out as she poured the hot soup through the grill on his mask, slapping back at her blindly.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, woman?" he yelled.

"What's wrong with me?" she yelled back. "What's wrong with you, you ogre!"

Amy shrieked out a noise of displeasure before marching into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind herself.

"Kev, dat was classic, but maybe not da best time, yeah?" Mars said, watching amusedly as Kevin clawed at his mask in a desperate attempt to remove it.

"I don't understand why she is so angry!" Kevin ground out, fumbling around for the catch on his mask. "She's such a nasty little devil!"

"Kev, you just came in here and said pussy was a slip of da tongue," Mars reminded Kevin.

"What's so wrong with that?" Kevin asked. "It was just a slip of the tongue!"

Mars pulled a face at Kevin, watching him stagger about slapping and pulling at his mask. Mars eventually stepped forwards, pinching two fingers into the release mechanism on Kevin's mask, which burst open and fell to the floor, revealing a breathless Kevin, whose skin was wet and red from the soup.

"You couldn't have done that any sooner?" Kevin sneered at Mars.

Mars shrugged.

"It's your mask," he said simply. "You oughta know how it works."

Kevin growled angrily, grabbing a tea towel from the counter and wiping the excess soup from his skin and hair.

"Kev?" Mars began slowly, following Kevin as he moved to the sink. "You do know what pussy means, right?"

"Of course I do!" Kevin instantly replied, switching on the cold tap and thrusting the towel under it. "I'm not stupid, Mars!"

Mars nodded slowly, leaning against the counter next to the sink, watching as Kevin brought the wet towel to his face with a small noise of delight as the cold reached his burns.

"What does it mean, Kev?"

Kevin slowly pulled down the towel, peeking over the top at Mars.

"What?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled against the towel.

"What does pussy mean Kev?" Mars asked.

"It means little cat!" Kevin replied, whipping the towel from his face. "What is so bloody offensive about that?"

Mars eyed Kevin questioningly, watching as Kevin's face slowly dropped.

"Wh-what else does it mean?" Kevin asked quietly.

Mars glanced at the bathroom door before leaning forwards and whispering the answer into Kevin's ear.

"What?" Kevin yelped, skidding back from Mars in alarm. "It does not!"

"It does actually," Mars replied, nodding his head solemnly. "And you said bein' around Merrylegs got you thinkin' about pussy all da time. And when she offered you breakfast, you said pussy was a slip of da tongue."

Kevin made to answer Mars, his face slowly shifting, his jaw opening and his eyebrows drawing together in alarm. Mars grinned as he watched Kevin turn deathly white, his burns looking more pronounced, before flushing so red his burns became indiscernible.

"Kid Muscle's got more social grace dan you do, Kevin Mask," Mars said slowly, shaking his head. "But it's still worth havin' ya around. For da entertainment value!"

Mars laughed, slapping Kevin on the shoulder.

"I should really apologise," Kevin said quietly. "Maybe if I just explain to her that I wasn't actually talking about slipping my tongue into–"

"Whoa!" Mars said abruptly, turning on Kevin and holding up both hands. "You've fallen in some deep shit Kev, don't dig yourself in no further!"

"But I didn't know that it meant–"

"Kev? Just trust me. Don't ever talk about it again, capisce?"

Kevin groaned, nodding his head. Mars walked back around the counter, hooking Kevin's mask up with his foot.

"Hey Kev, head's up!" he said brightly, swinging his leg back.

"What?" Kevin echoed, turning to him questioningly.

Mars flung his foot forwards, kicking Kevin's mask into the air. Both men watched as the mask collided with the light above Amy's cooking area, shattering the bulb before dropping onto Kevin's scalded forehead and sliding to the floor again. Kevin slowly turned to Mars, raising his eyebrows.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

Mars shrugged his shoulders spreading out his upturned palms at his sides.

"I always knew being around people was bad for my health…" Kevin grumbled, bending down to retrieve his mask.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The third round of the Bad Blood Tournament commences when Kid Muscle and Checkmate take on Death Angel and Sprite on Halloween for Roxanne's freedom. **Chapter 12 – Anarchy Versus Monarchy**. 


	12. Anarchy Versus Monarchy

**Recap:** Mars declared "Endgame", Amy offered accommodation to Mars and Kevin, and Kevin made a particularly poor faux pas in front of Amy.

* * *

**Chapter 12 – Anarchy Versus Monarchy**

"Good afternoon fight fans, this is Mac Metaphor, broadcasting live from the Sapporo Dome, the site of this exciting third round match of the Bad Blood Tournament!"

"That's right fight fans, but this match-up won't be held inside the dome, but rather outside on the retractable grass field, typically the site of soccer matches, Mac."

"But Doc, what are the IWF thinking hosting an outdoor event at the end of October in Hokkaido?"

"I don't know Mac, apparently the location was at the request of Edward Mask, leader of The Anarchists. A complete change from the previous match, which was held in the very south of Japan, today we find ourselves in the northern-most part of the country."

"And Doc, today is the 31st of October, a day celebrated in some countries, including Edward Mask's home of Great Britain, as Halloween, a night some allege that the dead can walk the Earth."

"So they say, Mac. The holiday isn't recognised here in Japan, but you gotta wonder if the date will be significant when Anarchist Death Angel fights tonight."

Kevin Mask sat stiffly, silently relieved that he had managed to acquire himself an aisle seat; at least he only had to tolerate Mars sitting next to him. Mars was grinning at his side, apparently still amused about something unbeknownst to Kevin. Next to Mars sat Amy, dressed again in something utterly absurd – she had told Mars it was the traditional dress of a Kinniku at a crowning ceremony, and Kid Muscle would understand the significance – to Kevin's eyes, she looked as though she ought to be serving school dinners at a facility for the colour-blind and mildly mentally affected.

Marie was absent from the stands, having decided that she could not bear to watch Roxanne being suspended in a cage like Trixie and Jacqueline had been. Meat found a place for her to wait inside the Sapporo Dome, where she could listen to the broadcast of the fight on a radio, and he promised her that if she wanted to at any point, she could join him at ringside.

Which ultimately meant that Kevin, Mars and Amy were all that remained of the usual Muscle League wrestlers and committed supporters, leaving themselves out-numbered two to one by The Anarchists; a point only further punctuated in Kevin's mind as he scanned across the typical six empty seats in front of them. And, as usual, Edward was taking his time to make his entrance. Kevin was unsure if Edward did such things because being late was another act of defiance or if it was done so that all the fans and Muscle Leaguers had to watch his group walk amongst them.

Inside the ring, Ikeman was stepping through the ropes dressed in an outfit that made even Amy's ludicrous clothing look sane: he was wearing hairy white boots, tight-fit, suede, chocolate-coloured jeans and a knee length fur coat and matching hat, both if which looked as though they had been constructed from the pelt of a flock of guinea pigs. As he lifted the microphone to his mouth, Ikeman revealed that he had in fact finished the disastrous ensemble off with a pair of violet, knitted mittens.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" he sang out, his breath creating small clouds of condensation around him. "Welcome to the third round of the Bad Blood Tournament, here at the-"

Ikeman's voice suddenly went quiet, even though his mouth continued moving for a moment longer. He frowned, looking down at his microphone curiously, turning it over and checking the switch at the side.

"I'll take it from here, thanks," Edward's voice announced.

Ikeman looked about himself in a comical fashion, checking every direction bar the one Edward was actually approaching from. Edward grabbed the top rope of the ring in one hand, leaping over it gracefully with both feet, landing behind Ikeman with a thump befitting a man of his size; but still Ikeman failed to look back.

"Tonight everybody, I would like to make a very generous offer to the Muscle League," Edward said confidently into the microphone he held. "Tonight I would like to give the Muscle League Legends – that's the tired, old Chojins of yesteryear to you and me – a chance to witness the DMP's destruction of the new generation of the Muscle League first-hand!"

Edward, who had been slowly moving to the centre of the ring, stopped at Ikeman's side, glaring at him threateningly. Ikeman scurried out of the ring in response, his coat catching in the ropes a little, resulting in him somehow managing to fall to the floor outside the ring, landing on his face.

"So tonight, my team and I would like to donate our seats to the elderly," Edward continued, holding out a hand in Kevin's direction.

The stage-hands responded by swinging a spotlight around to highlight the section Kevin, Mars and Amy were sat in, all three of who promptly groaned and turned away, trying to block out the light with their hands. Against the blindingly brilliant light, Kevin could just make out six shadows approaching the free seats. Whilst he was not surprised to see the outlines of some famous Justice Chojins of the last generation, he was surprised to see the outline of his own father amongst them. As much as he knew that Edward was trying to rebel against Robin Mask with his tournament, Kevin had not expected Edward to be quite so bold as to invite their father to sit in a prime seat to watch his little plan unfold.

"We will be indoors, watching the action on the live broadcast," Edward added. "Though we don't expect to have to wait long for our two team-mates fighting tonight to join us."

The light finally moved, and Kevin blinked back the remaining glare it had burnt onto his eyes to see Edward leave the ring. He began to wonder why Edward had chosen to remain invisible that night, but he did not have to wonder for long.

"They're scared to come out here because this time, they're down a couple of members themselves," Amy whispered.

"Oh yeah?" Mars asked.

"Yeah," Amy confirmed. "Road Rage and Hydrazoa are still a little "cut-up" after their introduction to Jaeger's Red Rain of Pain and Dik Dik's Antler Fist two days ago."

"Chef?" a voice asked.

"King Muscle!" Amy said, smiling brightly at the man sat diagonally in front of her. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"We're here to cheer on my boy to victory!" King Muscle confidently replied.

"And we're here to see those DMP boys get what they deserve for what they done did to our boys!" Terryman added, leaning over the back of his seat next to Broken Junior, who was nodding his agreement.

Kevin looked out at the ring, watching his brother walk away, silently thinking about the fact that, in just two days' time, he would finally come face-to-face with Edward Mask in an official wrestling match. Turning his head to his right, Kevin saw Mars at his side, Amy next to Mars, and in front of Mars and Amy respectively, Robin Mask and Warsman.

Kevin silently wondered when it was that all these people started getting involved in his life. It did not seem like so long ago that his only friend was his motorcycle, and he was a free agent. In what felt like a matter of mere days, he was suddenly the leader of the new Muscle League, whose duties included babysitting the other idiot Justice Chojins, and suddenly his family had reappeared around him just to add to the complications.

"Kevin."

And, Kevin thought miserably, he was now trying to deal with the tantrums of Edward and his friends with only Mars on his side, and Amy hanging around in the sidelines.

"Kevin!"

For some odd reason, the spotlights around the ring had begun swirling around, becoming almost nauseating to watch.

"Kevin!"

The lights eventually all focussed on one point – the base of the Sapporo Dome – before slowly rising up over the building to the roof, stopping over a shocked and bewildered looking Roxanne. The audience gasped at the sight of her, stood in what appeared to be the veil of her wedding gown, her shoes, her stockings and her underwear, her arms cuddled around herself against the cold.

"Kevin!"

Ikeman finally found the courage to return to the ring, thrusting a hand in Roxanne's direction, he cheerfully continued the oration he had been delivering before Edward had interrupted him.

"Tonight, the freedom of Roxanne Kinniku is at stake!" he said. "Introducing first the team of Checkmate and Kid Muscle!"

Some dreadful music began to play, and Kevin tensed himself in anticipation of another horrid entrance gimmick devised by Kid in a pitiful attempt to push his popularity.

"Kevin!"

Kevin felt something bony poke him in the shoulder, and realised he would no longer be able to ignore Amy, who had been trying to draw his attention for some time.

"What?" he hissed, leaning past Mars to look at her.

She nodded her head to one side and smiled optimistically. Having never been a great reader of unspoken human communication, least of all the kind emitted by a female, Kevin merely shook his head, completely at a loss to what she was referring to. She pulled a face of annoyance before pointing at the person sat directly in front of Mars. Kevin turned to look, although he could not entirely be sure why he did so when he already knew that Amy was pointing at Robin Mask.

"What about him?" Kevin muttered, turning back to Amy.

"Introduce me!" Amy hissed.

"What?" Kevin echoed incredulously.

"Introduce me to your father!" Amy insisted, her voice still barely more than a whisper, despite the cries of the fans around them and the blare of music announcing Kid and Checkmate's entrance.

"Why would I introduce you to my father?" Kevin snapped, keeping his own voice as low as possible so as not to alert Robin's attention. "You're not my girlfriend!"

Amy groaned, rolling her eyes and balling her fists.

"No, you raving great twat!" she whispered through tightly clenched teeth. "Introduce me to Sir Robin Mask, I've always wanted to meet him!"

"What?" Kevin echoed, still feeling as though he had missed some vital point in her argument. "Why?"

"Because I…" Amy began. "Oh forget it!"

She sat back with a huff, folding her arms over her chest, apparently forgetting about her self-appointed role as unofficial cheerleader to the Muscle League.

Checkmate was the first to enter the ring, looking just as he always did before a match: focussed, calm and determined. Kid entered next along with Meat, and it suddenly became clear to Kevin why Checkmate had walked ahead – and separate from – Kid and Meat. Kid was dressed as though he was about to audition for the part of Bilbo Baggins at his local amateur dramatics society, and Meat was inexplicably dressed as a cherub.

"What da hell is dis?" Mars asked slowly, narrowing his eyes at Kid. "He still ain't takin' dis serious enough."

"Kid likes to dress up and play games, it helps his confidence!" Amy pointed out.

"Oh yeah?" Mars sneered. "He's fightin' da DMP tonight, not searchin' for da precious."

Kevin snorted involuntarily, relieved that for once the joke was not on him.

"I'm sure Roxanne appreciates it," Amy said.

"Yeah, you can see dat by da way she's cheerin' Kid on up dere," Mars said dryly.

Amy and Kevin turned to Roxanne's position on the roof of the Sapporo Dome, where she was still under a single spotlight. She had gone from standing huddled over to shaking her fists in the air, her legs stood astride, her mouth clearly shouting out unpleasant curses at her husband.

"Hi Roxanne!" Kid called back to her cheerfully.

Roxanne's arm movements became more violent at Kid's greeting, but he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in reply, confirming that he could not hear her. As a red-faced Meat slowly took his place at ringside and Kid began to remove his costume, Ikeman announced their opponents.

"And from the DMP, Anarchists Death Angel and Sprite!"

Ikeman sped from the ring before either Death Angel or Sprite made an appearance, proving himself to be just as afraid of the rest of Edward's group as he was of Edward himself. A dark and sombre piece of music started to play and the DMP tag team started down the aisle. At first, from the angle they were sat at, Kevin could only see Death Angel's head above the crowds of fans, his hollow, skeletal features almost glowing in the dull light of the setting sun. Kevin turned to the ring, deciding that Checkmate and Kid would be at an appropriate angle to see their approaching opponents far clearer than he could.

Checkmate was standing deathly still and Kid Muscle was chewing the fingers of one hand, his other hand attempting to disguise the rapidly growing wet patch in his pants.

When Death Angel and Sprite both stepped clear of the stands and into view of Kevin and the others, everyone around Kevin muttered out involuntary words of surprise at what they saw. Death Angel was no longer dressed in his DMP or Anarchist clothing, his real form clearly visible at last. His body was covered in bandages, his head, neck, shoulders, upper body and top halves of his arms and legs mostly covered by a tight, dark grey bodysuit. The formless image of his body was, to Kevin at least, vaguely reminiscent of the disguise Mars had worn when he had gone by the name Eskara, leaving Kevin a little suspicious that Death Angel might be even more of a mystery than anyone suspected.

Sprite was dressed in tight-fitting trousers that almost matched his skin in colour, giving the disturbing illusion that he might actually be naked. The top half of his body was bare except for his forearms, which he wore brown and green armguards over, similar in shape to the ones Mars wore. But, as Sprite stepped up onto the ring apron, he turned his back on the section Kevin was sat in, revealing the most intriguing part of his outfit.

Mars started laughing shamelessly, drawing the attention of everyone around him, all of who were still stunned into silence by Death Angel's eerie appearance. A few seconds of struggling to recall something Kevin had all but forgotten, he finally realised what Mars was laughing at: Sprite's back was tattooed in black ink with what appeared to be a declaration of his feelings for Edward in Chad, the prevalent language at the DMP headquarters.

"Did you see dat?" Mars whispered, elbowing Kevin a little too roughly in the side.

"Yes," Kevin tightly replied. "I don't know why you think it's so funny, it actually looks quite ominous to me."

"Omina-what?" Mars echoed, turning to Kevin with a frown. "C'mon Kev, it's hilarious! How can dat little guy possibly compare to me?"

Kevin turned sharply to Mars, unsure of just how to take what he had just heard. Mars's smile slowly faded, his face looking a little confused for a brief moment before moving into the sort of serious look Mars rarely wore.

"I didn't mean it like dat, Kevin," he said quietly, shaking his head. "I was just laughin' at Edward datin' some fairy boy."

Kevin chose not to respond to Mars, since the nagging question of what had gone on between Mars and Edward before Kevin joined the DMP was something Kevin had yet to resolve in his own mind. He had been able to block it out after he saw Mars make a conscious effort to depart from the DMP and follow a path of honour, but Kevin had never truly decided whether his best friend or his brother was the one lying to him about certain events at the DMP headquarters prior to his joining the group.

Back inside the ring, Kid Muscle was leaping back and forth with indecision about whether or not he would fight first; but his decision was seemingly dependent on which of The Anarchists he would be facing. Sprite eyed him over with a degree of amusement before patting Death Angel on the arm and nodding his head. Death Angel stepped out of the ring, and Kid Muscle promptly shoved Checkmate to their corner, turning back to face Sprite, barely containing his grin of delight.

As they approached each other in the centre of the ring, Kid became even more confident as he discovered that he was easily several inches taller than Sprite, and, judging by his lithe frame, possibly as much as twice Sprite's weight. Kid's grin only vanished when Sprite extended a hand in his direction, tilting his head slightly and smiling a slightly flat smile.

"Didn't they teach you at the Hercules Factory that it's good manners to shake hands with an opponent?" Sprite asked curiously when Kid hesitated to respond. "They certainly taught us that at The Academy."

"Oh…" Kid began. "I guess so."

Kid made to shake hands with Sprite, but stopped short as Meat smacked his hands onto the mat behind him.

"Kid, wake up!" Meat shouted to him. "It's a trick! Remember who you're fightin' here!"

Kid paused again, slowly looking into Sprite's eyes once more.

"Your manager is a real nag," Sprite whispered to him.

"Pff, you're telling me!" Kid laughed.

"I'm sure you don't always do what he tells you either, right?" Sprite added, quirking an eyebrow and grinning at Kid.

"Hell yeah!" Kid agreed.

"Then shall we shake on it?" Sprite asked, moving his hand closer to Kid.

Kid glanced over his shoulder at Meat, who was violently shaking his head, before turning back to Sprite and grabbing his hand. Kid quickly yanked forwards, causing Sprite to stumble towards him, driving an elbow into the middle of Sprite's tattooed back, sanding him crashing to the mat. Dropping to one knee, Kid locked on a Texas Tornado Clutch, earning himself an appreciative cheer from the fans who recognised his unspoken tribute to Terry Kenyon.

"That's it Kid, don't even give 'em room to breathe!" Meat cheered.

Kid yanked hard on his hold, twisting Sprite's ankle dangerously close to breaking point.

"That's for Roxanne!" he growled. "And this," he added, twister slightly tighter still, eliciting a scream of pain from Sprite. "Is for ruining my wedding night!"

"Break his ankle clean off, Kid!" Mars bellowed, punching a fist into the air.

Amy and Kevin jerked away from him at the suddenness of his action, but Mars was too busy grinning at something off to one side of the ring. Kevin turned in the direction Mars appeared to be looking, his eyes widening as he saw a huge screen showing the image of himself, Mars, Amy and the Muscle League Legends in front of them. Kevin waited until the screen shifted to Kid Muscle clamping down on Sprite's ankle before turning sharply to Mars.

"Are you trying to make this more difficult?" he hissed. "You know Edward will have seen what you just did!"

"Yeah I know," Mars said, grinning in a way that worried Kevin more than the potential outcome of the match in front of them. "But he's makin' jokes about hurtin' my love, so now I'm just returnin' da favour."

Kevin sighed, turning back to the ring to watch Kid demonstrate another move he had learned from a fellow Justice Chojin as he grabbed Sprite's hair, pulling him to his feet and grabbing his arms behind his back, flipping him over to deliver one of Ramenman's Reverse Chicken Wing Suplex Holds.

"I know you ain't exactly Kiki's biggest fan, but she's my girl, Kevin!" Mars snarled.

Kevin turned back to Mars, surprised to find Mars suddenly glaring down at him. Kevin found it slightly amusing that Mars was so upset over Kiki's abduction; after all, Mars had always sworn that he would never be a one-woman man, and Kiki was about the most unlikely girl to be the one to steal his heart. Of course, Kevin would never admit to Mars that he found it amusing, since Mars seemed genuinely quite put out by the whole affair. The very idea of a Chojin as powerful as Mars holding an average woman in such high esteem seemed ludicrous to Kevin. Robin Mask had been a successful wrestler in his days, and he had never run around after his wife the same way Mars pandered to Kiki.

But, Kevin thought darkly, on more than one occasion in his childhood, he had found his mother crying over something Robin had done or said regarding the importance of his career, or simply because he had been on the road for a great length of time without calling home, forgetting things like birthdays and anniversaries.

Kevin decided that women were, as he had always suspected, just a frivolous distraction, and one he would never be stupid enough to indulge in.

Inside the ring, Kid appeared to be dominating the fight, which was a welcome sight to Kevin after the dismal performance of his predecessors. However, Kevin's confidence began to wane as Sprite suddenly kicked his legs up in the air, suspending himself upside-down against Kid's arms. Kid loosened his hold in shock, allowing Sprite to slip his arms free and flip over Kid's body, landing on his feet. He shook himself off and started towards the corner-post. Kid leapt up behind him, charging at him with a clothesline that sent him into the ropes. As Sprite bounced off the ropes, Kid caught him in a side-suplex.

Apparently Meat had worked his students harder, as Kid's strategy appeared to be right for the opponent he was facing; a lightweight like Sprite was always most dangerous when airborne, but Kid was doing a good job of keeping Sprite on the ground. Kid grabbed one of Sprite's legs, but Sprite kicked out forcefully with his other foot, kicking Kid square on the nose. Kid staggered back on instinct, allowing Sprite the chance to get to his feet. Sprite ran to the other side of the ring, leaning back on the ropes and using them to propel himself forwards as he charged at Kid again, launching into a flying bodypress. Kid barely managed to catch Sprite before the move took him off his feet, turning it into a simple bodyslam.

Outside the stadium, the sun was rapidly sinking out of the sky, darkness gradually encroaching on the Sapporo Dome, the spotlights occasionally increasing in brightness to compensate. It seemed odd to Kevin that the fight was taking place at such an hour, as it was more typical to hold a wrestling match during an afternoon; but as daylight dwindled, a faint aura began to radiate off of Death Angel, and Kevin began to suspect that Edward was perhaps almost as good a tactician as he professed to be.

Sprite was still on his back in the middle of the ring, and Kid was about to pin him there, but Sprite quickly kicked out with both feet, his heels driving into Kid Muscle's gut, shoving him back. The audience gasped in awe as Sprite then effortlessly leapt to his feet without the use of his hands, standing poised in front of Kid.

"You're not tired?" Kid asked him in disbelief.

"I'm just getting warmed up," Sprite darkly replied. "Are you tired, Kid Muscle?"

"N-no!" Kid lied nervously.

Sprite grinned at Kid's reply, looking suddenly dangerous in Kid Muscle's eyes. He started towards Kid, but Kid shot into his corner, slapping at Checkmate's arm.

"Your turn!" he said, slipping through the ropes.

Sprite backed up, beckoning Checkmate to enter the ring.

"Hey big guy, show us what you got," he said confidently.

Checkmate pressed down on the top rope, stepping over it to a small cheer of appreciation from his fans. He slowly advanced on Sprite who, to his slight bewilderment, held up his hands as though challenging Checkmate to a test of strength. Checkmate tilted his head curiously at the slightly crazed looking teen before accepting the challenge, taking hold of Sprite's hands. Checkmate gripped onto Sprite until he heard small cracking sounds before pulling downwards and outwards with all his strength. But Sprite appeared to predicted Checkmate's move as he pushed his weight against Checkmate's hands and hoisted his legs up, catching Checkmate's jaw with a mule-kick.

Checkmate stumbled a little, but Sprite followed through with another kick, catching Checkmate's nose and forehead, temporarily stunning him. Sprite grabbed his hands from Checkmate's hold and quickly locked Checkmate into a sleeper hold, having to practically climb onto Checkmate's back to deliver the move. Checkmate took a moment to recover before backing into the corner hard, slamming Sprite's back into the corner-post. Kid Muscle squeaked in alarm as the two wrestlers backed into the corner he was stood at, edging his way along the ring apron to escape any possible harm from their actions. But Checkmate backed up once more, hitting Sprite hard enough to make him release his hold.

Checkmate then reached over his shoulder, grabbing Sprite by the throat and waistband of his trousers, he flung Sprite over his head, where he flew in an imperfect arc to the centre of the ring, landing in a crumpled heap. Checkmate activated his Chess-Piece Change, taking on the form of a brick tower. Sprite looked over his shoulder, his face twisting in alarm at what he saw. He hurriedly slid out of the ring, under the bottom rope, running around the outside of the ring and leaping back in to tag Death Angel, before ducking out again.

Checkmate turned to The Anarchists' corner, watching the large and foreboding shadow of Death Angel enter the ring. Spotlights flooded the ring with light, but Death Angel's body appeared to be absorbing the light around him, making his white, skeletal face seem almost luminescent by comparison. Kid was muttering out what sounded like some sort of sutra behind Checkmate, and a quick glance in Kid's direction confirmed what Checkmate had suspected: he was rubbing a rosary of beads over his fingers as he spoke, his eyes almost popping out of his head, his knees trembling beneath him. Checkmate sized his opponent up as he tried to decide what approach would be best; but before he could reach a decision, Death Angel made a noise akin to a turbine sucking in a vast quantity of air, his upper body swelling up. Sensing something a little unusual, Checkmate changed back to his typical king form and dived towards Death Angel, aiming to tackle his legs to take him off his feet; but as Checkmate neared, Death Angel opened his mouth out wide, a blast of green smoke enveloping Checkmate.

Kid frowned curiously at the action in front of him, watching as Checkmate collapsed to the mat, choking for air.

"That's it?" Kid asked, looking up at Death Angel. "That's your big scary attack? Death Breath? Well check this out, this is Fart Attack!"

Kid jumped onto the corner-post and turned his back on Death Angel, bending over to release a particularly powerful fart into Death Angel's face.

"That's disgusting!" Sprite yelled from his corner, waving a fist above his head. "That's not real wrestling!"

"Hey, if bad breath is a move, why not farting?" Kid yelled back.

"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?" Sprite shouted.

"I'll say it from here!" Kid replied, aiming another fart across the ring.

Kevin Mask sighed, lowering his head into his hands.

"Hey, cheer up, Kev!" Mars said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"I can't believe a noble meeting of superhumans has been reduced to a contest of "what smells worse?"," Kevin groaned, lifting his head again and wincing at the sight of Kid shaking his hips shamelessly from side to side as he farted into Death Angel's face.

"Hey, dis is good!" Mars said.

Kevin turned to Mars, eying him incredulously.

"How can this possibly be good?" he asked.

"Well, da fairy was pretty weak and all da skeleton can do is breathe on people," Mars explained. "Dis means we got dis one in da bag."

"I suppose you're right…" Kevin reluctantly agreed. "But what sort of victory is it if we win by out-farting our opponents?"

Mars shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a victory," he plainly replied. "And da girl is free, and dat's all dat matters, right?"

"I just don't understand this," Kevin said slowly. "The first four Chojins were strong, it doesn't make sense for Edward to leave his weakest men to face Kid Muscle and Checkmate – Edward must remember Checkmate from the DMP, and he knows the Kinnikus are a lot stronger than they look or act."

"Kev?"

"Yes?"

"Don't look a gift horse in da mouth, yeah?"

"Hey!" Amy snapped. "Why did you point at me when you said horse?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, turning back to the ring.

"You're an insolent, jumped up bloody pigeon," Amy grumbled, turning her head away from Mars.

Mars turned to Kevin, grinning at him inanely, obviously expecting Kevin to find Amy's response as hilarious as he did.

"Leave her alone Mars," Kevin said instead.

Mars pulled a face at Kevin, who slowly remembered his mistake from the day before.

"Let's just watch the fight," Kevin suggested.

Mars smirked to himself, sitting back in his seat. Kevin hoped that Mars would not mention any of the previous day again, it was bad enough knowing that a video of him stuck on the back of Amy's little pink scooter was loose on the ether, the last thing Kevin wanted was for anyone else to hear about his virtually unforgivable mistake over the name of that ridiculous little white cat.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** All seems to be going well for the Muscle League and victory is in their sights as Kid Muscle and Checkmate continue to dominate their opponents, ending the fight in a manner that leaves Edward Mask with a few difficult decisions on his hands. **Chapter 13 – Out of Bounds**. 


	13. Out of Bounds

**A/N:** Writing wresting matches is difficult. Even more so when you invent characters and have to invent moves… Woe is me!

Expect this to be the longest fic in the UM fanfic section, it's shaping up to out-last the current longest fic (which is one of mine, _The Reason_). Basically just because all the scenes/ideas I never used in some of my other UM fics are being used in this one. And also because I figured it was time for another monster saga in this section.

**Recap:** Kid Muscle and Checkmate started the third round of the Bad Blood Tournament against Death Angel and Sprite, who seemed surprisingly weak to Kevin Mask watching from the sidelines.

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Out of Bounds**

Roxanne shivered against the biting cold as she watched the fight unfolding below her. It looked like it was turning into a cheap gag show, as Kid Muscle appeared to be winning the fight based on the toxicity of his flatulence. But what really stood out in Roxanne's mind was that she was watching the Muscle League fighting opponents who seemed barely strong enough to last in a normal human wrestling match, far less a superhuman battle. Roxanne had assumed that Edward Mask had played his team from weakest to strongest, but if that were indeed the case, the fighters below her must be stronger than the tag teams who fought the Muscle League teams of Wally Tusket and Terry Kenyon, and Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger; which was a very unsettling thought.

Edward had tried to tell the girls that the Muscle League were not taking the Bad Blood Tournament seriously, playing it like some sort of game, and losing because they were not even trying to fight. Looking down at Kid shaking his rear-end in the faces of his opponents, Roxanne could not help but think that Edward was right: the Muscle League were not taking the challenge seriously at all. Of course, she thought to herself, it would be no big deal if the Muscle League were messing about and crushing their opponents with laughable ease and no real consequences; but the lives of four ordinary women were at stake, and none of the Muscle League appeared to even care.

Maybe, Roxanne thought miserably, Trixie and Jacqueline were right after all; maybe Edward Mask and his friends would take better care of them than the Justice Chojins of the Muscle League would.

"Poor Roxanne," Amy muttered. "Imagine putting her up there without a coat in this weather, that's just despicable!"

"Dat's da DMP, toots," Mars casually replied. "Don't you remember how dey treat people?"

Mars jabbed a finger at the scar over Amy's nose, at which she leaned sharply away from him, pushing his hand away.

"Roxanne could become ill up there, somebody should do something!" Amy insisted. "Can't one of us at least get a coat up to her?"

"You can't interfere in the match, Kid Muscle and Checkmate would lose by disqualification," Kevin warned her.

"But this is ludicrous!" Amy argued. "How would you like being stuck up there in this weather in just your underwear?"

"I don't wear underwear," Mars informed her.

"That was too much information, bird-face!" Amy snapped.

"I wear underwear," King Muscle said, turning to join the conversation. "But I didn't when I was your age! Now I have to…"

"Now dat was too much information!" Mars said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

"You're getting away from the point!" Amy interrupted them irritably. "My point is that Roxanne could become ill being stuck up there in the cold! The longer this match goes on and the darker it gets out here, the more likely it is that something bad will happen to her!"

Kevin sighed a little louder than he meant to, drawing Amy's attention to him.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand!" she scolded him. "You're totally clueless about the right way to treat people, especially women!"

Kevin pretended not to have heard her, mainly because he could not answer her accusation. After all, he silently admitted to himself, Amy was right. Kevin still did not quite understand the "Power of Friendship" that fuelled so many in the Muscle League, much less the complications of romantic relationships with women. It was not that Kevin was cold-hearted, merely that he did not really know what was expected of him as anyone's friend. Mars made friendship easy because he never really expected anything of Kevin, and laughed off the times when Kevin was acting particularly stubborn and singular.

"Poor Roxanne…" Amy muttered. "There must be something we can do."

Kevin started in shock as Amy got to her feet and edged past Mars, aiming herself for the aisle. As she stepped over Kevin's feet, he quickly lunged towards her, grabbing his arms around her waist and pulling her down. Amy yelped, landing hard onto Kevin's lap, facing the aisle. She slowly turned her head towards him, glaring at him with the sort of determination Kevin was more accustomed to seeing in Edward.

"What are you doing?" she growled at him.

"Stopping you from costing us a victory," he flatly told her.

"What if Roxanne catches pneumonia?" Amy asked him.

"She'll be fine, Kid Muscle won't lose if he knows his wife is at stake," Kevin assured her.

"You just don't get it, do you? That poor girl is standing up on the roof of the building, not even sheltered from the wind like we are, and she's hardly wearing anything! I was just going to talk to Edward to–"

"You what?"

"I was going to talk to Edward–"

"That's what I thought you said, have you lost your mind?"

"No, but unlike you, I'm worried about the girls!"

Kevin studied Amy curiously, amazed to discover that, judging by the look on her face, she was being quite serious. To the best of Kevin's knowledge, Amy knew nothing about the girls Edward had abducted other than their names, and yet she was willing to confront a group of Devil Chojins because she was concerned that one of the girls might catch a cold.

Amy, Kevin thought darkly, was actually a bit of a goody-two-shoes under her guise of a tough-girl.

Amy slipped a little against Kevin's leg, grabbing at his coat to steady herself against him. Kevin began to realise that this was probably the longest she had been quiet in his company, and it was the first real chance he had had to study her scars up close and in detail. Although only two of the original four scratches had left deep and easily visible scarring, on closer inspection, Kevin could still see faint purple welts on her forehead and near her upper lip where the other two scratches had been. It still amazed Kevin that Amy had survived Doomsmane's attack; by the time he had arrived at the hospital with her, she had turned blue and looked as though she had died on the journey over. But, even more surprising than her surviving the attack, Kevin was amazed to learn that Amy had lost absolutely none of her confidence or her determination to confront the DMP. Kevin had seen young DMP recruits take their own lives after a vicious confrontation with Doomsmane out of the fear of having to possibly face him again; and yet this ordinary girl seemed not in the lest perturbed by what had happened to her.

Amy's determination was quite dignified, Kevin thought to himself. Her determination – and frankly her bravery – was something else too, but Kevin could not quite put his finger on what it was.

She sighed softly, looking down at her feet, a pensive look passing over her features. Kevin followed her eyes, realising that her feet were still dangling over the aisle. Suddenly she started to stand up, aiming to plant her feet down in the aisle.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kevin demanded, tightening his grip and pulling her back down.

"Back to my seat!" she replied, eying him as though he had just asked her something ridiculously obvious.

"Your seat is that way," Kevin reminded her, jerking his head in the direction of her vacated seat.

"Yes, but I need to stand up to get back there!" Amy pointed out, before trying to stand again.

Kevin growled in frustration, pulling her down yet again. For such a lightweight, she was surprisingly difficult to keep hold of; but Kevin decided that was probably because he was more accustomed to manhandling the bodies of bulky male Chojins rather than scrawny female girls.

"You're going to have to let go of me sooner or later, Kevin!" Amy warned him. "I can't sit here all night!"

Mars turned his head away from them, sniggering out some indecipherable words to King Muscle. Although Kevin failed to hear what Mars had said, King Muscle apparently found it even funnier than Mars did, clamping both hands over his mouth and laughing into his palms.

"I'm not letting you run off and cause trouble!" Kevin argued.

"You're the one causing trouble holding me here!" Amy argued back, wriggling relentlessly against Kevin's hold.

"Honestly woman, do you ever think before you open your mouth or do such stupid things?" Kevin said, struggling to keep a hold of her.

"You're one to talk! What about last night? And this morning!"

"You attacked me like a crazed dervish this morning!"

"You asked for it, you were a guest in my home, and you were behaving like a total dick!"

"For goodness sake woman, just sit down and shut the hell up!"

Amy yelped, slipping from Kevin's lap and falling onto her back across Mars's feet. Kevin looked down at her for only a brief moment, the distinct sensation that he was being watched drawing his eyes upwards again. Kevin gulped audibly as he found Mars and the Muscle League Legends all turned towards him, glaring at him silently.

"Kevin, I never raished you to treat a lady like that," Robin Mask said quietly.

"She's no lady!" Kevin shouted back, pointing at Amy.

"I hate you so much, Kevin Mask," Amy grumbled, grabbing onto Mars's hand and allowing him to help her back into her seat. "You're such an insensitive arse."

Kevin grunted out a noise of annoyance at her, trying his best to ignore his father, who was shaking his head, and King Muscle, who was suddenly panicked over any potential damage to Amy's hands. Turning back to the ring, Kevin suppressed another outburst of frustration as he saw that Kid had left something deeply unpleasant in the centre of the ring, and was proceeding to make a complete fool of himself by shaking his bare behind in Sprite's face. The only thing more ridiculous than what was going on in the ring was what was going on in the row in front of Kevin.

"That's my boy!" King Muscle cried out, grinning joyously at everyone around him.

Mars, who had been sniggering constantly for the last few minutes, suddenly began to laugh unashamedly, pointing at the ring as he did so, the source of his latest outburst being the sight of Sprite kicking his boot hard into Kid Muscle's naked derriere.

"I thought you were angry that Kid Muscle wasn't being serious in this match!" Kevin snapped at Mars.

"I'm still mad he ain't steppin' up his game, but c'mon, Kev!" Mars replied, slapping a hand onto Kevin's shoulder. "He's makin' Eddie's girlfriend suffer!"

As Mars and King Muscle laughed and clapped their hands at the madness unfolding inside the ring, beyond the Sapporo Dome the last twinkling of sunlight was fading to black along the horizon, the enveloping dark of nightfall swallowing up the scenery beyond the glare of the spotlights inside the stadium. As the horizon finally dissolved into blackness, a distinct chill filled the air, the temperature dropping much faster than seemed natural.

"What's happening?" Amy muttered, huddling into herself against the increasing chill.

Mars and King Muscle fell silent at last, and a glance in their direction confirmed to Kevin that they felt the same sense of foreboding that he did. Although it was normal for the air to become colder after sundown, the speed with which the temperature had dropped and the sudden lack of wind around them was highly unnatural and deeply unsettling. The air had become so still it was turning slightly stagnant and becoming suffocating.

In the ring, Checkmate was standing in his corner on the ring apron, his head turned upwards; Kid was frozen near the centre of the ring also looking up at the sky, his hands clutching loosely at the belt of his wrestling outfit as he had apparently been mid-way through re-dressing himself; Sprite was standing not far from Kid, grinning maliciously, his hands on his hips, a chunk of his hair flopped over his face and dirtied with blood that appeared to have come from his nose or mouth. Above them, Death Angel was slowly and silently rising through the air, his body in a star formation, facing down towards the ring. Although there was nothing particularly sinister about his action, the silence with which he moved and the distinct sensation that the higher he rose, the colder the air became, had everyone watching him in a concerned and anxious manner.

"Get the hell outta there!" Mars yelled suddenly, standing abruptly from his seat.

In the silence that had befallen the entire stadium, Mars's voice echoed off the dome itself, sounding slightly false and muffled in the almost airless environment.

"Move your asses!" Mars yelled when neither Kid nor Checkmate acknowledged his words. "Now, you stupid sons of bitches!"

Meat suddenly snapped to attention, his eyes darting around the competitors in the ring, Death Angel suspended above the ring, Roxanne perched on top of the dome and Mars upright in the stands. He was unsure of what was about to happen next, but even from the distance he was stood at, Meat could see flickers of terror and panic in Mars's normally nonchalant expression, and that was enough to alert him to the gravity of the situation.

"Kid, get outta the way!" he yelled, smacking his palms against the ring mat.

Kid ignored him, still unmoving, his eyes watching Death Angel as though he were in some kind of trance.

"Kid, can you hear me?" Meat cried desperately. "You gotta move, this is bad!"

But still Kid did not so much as blink in reply. Meat turned to Checkmate, who was standing almost immediately above him.

"Checkmate, c'mon!" Meat tried. "You gotta get Kid outta there!"

Meat gasped in alarm as he saw that Checkmate had the same glazed over look in his eyes as Kid did.

"C'mon, Checkmate!" Meat shouted, gripping at Checkmate's ankle. "Snap out of it!"

Meat grabbed Checkmate's ankle in both hands, tugging back and forth in a vain attempt to wake him from his apparent trance. He knew that he should not be touching one of the competitors, but the image of Mars's panicked face was still clear in his mind, and he knew Marie would be heart-broken if anything happened to Roxanne.

"What's happening down there, Mars?" Kevin asked Mars.

"Dis ain't good, dis really ain't good," Mars muttered, his eyes still locked on the ring.

"What is it, damn it?" Kevin demanded, standing abruptly at Mars's side.

"Dis is Death Angel's signature attack," Mars said darkly, moving his eyes to Kevin.

Kevin started as Mars met his eyes, suddenly wishing he had not sought Mars's attention. Kevin had only ever seen Mars look more afraid when Doomsmane had threatened to mark his face.

"Wh-what is it?" Kevin asked quietly, already sure that he would not like the answer.

"It's real bad, I can't believe he would try it in here, people could get hurt," Mars quietly replied. "It's like somebody opened da gates of Hell, it tears everythin' apart."

"Tears…?" Kevin began nervously.

"I dunno how safe dese people are," Mars said, looking about himself.

Kevin turned to commence gauging the distance from the ring to the front row of spectators, but before he had fully turned, the silence was suddenly broken, a wall of noise dropping into the stadium, bringing with it a powerful blast of wind that whirled around the stands like a cyclone. Kevin slapped back the collar of his coat, which had been blasted against his face, turning to look down at the ring to assess what Death Angel's signature move actually was, shocked to find that what was happening in the ring was even more forceful and dangerous than the violent winds that were attacking those sat in the stands.

High-pitched screams washed over the spectators like waves, the source of the sounds distorted by the shifting winds. The noises sounded almost inhuman, but with countless fans running down the aisles with their mouths open and their arms above their heads, staggering occasionally as the wind caught them, it was unclear whether the screaming was the panic of the spectators or something inside the ring. The centre of the chaos was a brown-coloured column of swirling winds that obscured the entire ring from sight. On the roof of the Sapporo Dome, Roxanne was staggering around wildly against the winds, her veil whipped from her head and carried out of sight. She appeared to be shouting at the ring, but her voice was easily lost in the screams and howling winds around her.

The winds charging around the stands dropped as suddenly as they had arisen, and the brown cyclone inside the ring ceased rotating and fell like cascading waters, slowly revealing the fallout of the devastation that had just occurred. As the brown mass fell, it slowly took the form of millions of scarabs that scuttled from the ring and into the stands, sending another wave of unabated panic through the spectators. At first, as the insects dispersed, all that was visible was Death Angel, falling slowly towards the ring where he landed soundlessly. Sprite crawled out from under the ring, where he had apparently fled to earlier to evade harm. Checkmate appeared next, standing in his rook form, telltale cracks in the bricks of his body revealing that even he had been unable to avoid the attack. At the side of the ring, Meat staggered about, his head in his hands, streaks of blood marbled across every part of his body, his cape shredded at his shoulders and one boot missing from his feet. Kid Muscle slowly stood up from where he had been crouched over behind Checkmate in an attempt to shelter from the attack.

The audience gasped and some even screamed as Kid swayed out of Checkmate's shadow, his clothing ragged and stained in blood, his head at first looking as though his entire face was hanging off. As Kid pushed the fingers of one hand into a chunk of dark brown hair that had sprouted from one side of his head, the peaked ridge of his mask that usually ran from his neck to his forehead fell to the mat, revealing that the damage to his face was an illusion; his rubber mask was badly damaged and hanging in ragged chunks from his head, but his face beneath was relatively unharmed.

Checkmate changed back into his king form, staggering forward a step, his mouth open and his chest heaving as though he was exhausted. He too was laced with lacerations, rivulets of blood riding around the bulges of his muscles. Sprite began to laugh a dark, hollow laugh that made Kid resume his position crouched behind Checkmate.

"What's the matter Mantaro?" Sprite asked, leaning to look around Checkmate's legs at Kid. "Was Death Angel's Storm of Chaos too much for you? Honestly, I expected a bit more out of the son of King Muscle!"

"Kid!" Roxanne screamed.

Kid looked up at Roxanne, who was on her hands and knees, her hands clasped onto the edge of the roof of the Sapporo Dome, looking down at the ring, her hair dangling down at the sides of her face.

"Come on Kid…" she said, her voice barely audible down in the ring. "Please… You have to…"

Roxanne shuddered, one of her hands slipping. She cried out in alarm as her arm shot over the edge of the roof.

"Roxanne?" Kid muttered, getting to his feet, a determined look slowly evolving on his semi-masked face.

"Kid… I don't think I can hold on…" Roxanne said faintly, swaying around a little longer before clapping a hand to her head and dropping forwards in a faint.

"Roxanne!" Kid yelled, bounding over the top rope in desperation as Roxanne's limp form slid from the roof of the Sapporo Dome.

"He'll never make it!" Amy cried, leaping out of her seat.

The Muscle League members in attendance all stood, watching on in silent horror as Roxanne's body accelerated towards the ground far faster than Kid ran through the stands in a vain attempt to prevent her from hitting the ground. Two of the spotlights lighting the ring swung around to follow Roxanne's descent and a third followed Kid as he charged through the audience. A second later a fourth spotlight swung around to a section of panicking fans, showing Checkmate in his knight form, galloping up the aisle, leaping over any spectators who were still trying to flee following Death Angel's Storm of Chaos.

"I can't watch!" Amy wailed, turning to bury her head into Mars's chest.

Kevin turned to glower at Mars, who was too preoccupied with Roxanne's fate to notice his action at first. He did a double-take at Kevin, pulling a questioning face at him before turning to Amy, starting as he saw her pressed against him.

"Geddoffa me!" Mars growled angrily, pushing her back.

"You wrestlers are all such arseholes!" Amy complained, staggering away from Mars.

"You should wanna watch dis, Checkmate kinda looks like your twin brother down dere," Mars said snidely, pointing at Checkmate's centaur-like appearance.

"You're such a f–"

Amy's words were drowned out in a wave gasps from the audience as Roxanne disappeared from sight behind the back row of seats by the entrance to the Sapporo Dome, apparently having fallen to the ground in a potentially fatal fall. Marie appeared, running towards the point where Roxanne had fallen, all eyes on her in the silence that followed.

"Gotcha!" a voice said, ringing out clearly throughout the silenced stadium.

Edward Mask rose to his feet, Roxanne's limp, but unharmed, form sprawled across his arms.

"Roxanne!" Marie gasped, back-pedalling to a halt in front of Edward.

Roxanne groaned, blinking heavily.

"It's alright Roxanne, you're safe now," Edward said gently as her eyes found his face.

"Edward?" she said faintly, touching trembling fingertips to the side of his mask.

A flicker of a smile passed over Roxanne's lips before she passed out again, hanging limply in Edward's arms. Checkmate skidded to a halt between Marie and Edward, Kid Muscle barely clinging to his back.

"Let her go!" Kid demanded, leaping off of Checkmate and marching up to Edward.

"If you lay one finger on me, you will lose this round by disqualification," Edward quietly warned him.

"Head's up Edward!"

Edward slid back as Sprite hurtled over the railings at the back of the audience, delivering a dropkick to Kid Muscle that hit him in the head and shoulder. As Kid had begun to evade the attack, the blow itself was not particularly vicious; but it did successfully jerk Kid's loose mask around, blinding him as the section that usually covered his left ear ended up over his eyes.

"Hey!" he complained, clawing at the rubber as he tried to right it.

But Sprite continued to attack Kid, not allowing him the opportunity to regain his senses. Checkmate stepped forward to aid Kid's struggle, but as he did so, Death Angel landed onto his back, locking his arms around Checkmate's horse-neck, locking him into a tight sleeper hold and bending his neck over his back.

Edward backed up a few steps more before turning and fleeing from the fight, disappearing into the shadows with the unconscious Roxanne. Marie screamed, trying to escape from the superhuman bodies clattering around her. Meat hurriedly cleared the stands, grabbing Marie's hand and guiding her away from the madness.

"What about Roxanne?" Marie cried as she ran.

"Don't worry about it!" Meat assured her. "Kid won't let us down, and he's already survived the worst those DMP fiends could throw at him!"

The four fighting Chojins became tangled through each other, their battles rapidly turning into one big struggle, looking more like a street brawl than a sanctioned wrestling match, their bodies ducking in and out of sight as they dropped behind the back row of the audience and popped up again.

"Get back in da ring, you stupid sons o' bitches!" Mars yelled desperately. "Damn it, what da hell is wrong wid dese guys?"

Kevin frowned at Mars's outburst, but as he turned back to the ring, he saw Ikeman standing at the side of the ring, his fingers counting in the air.

"Oh crap!" he groaned.

"But…" Amy began, tilting her head curiously. "What is he counting for?"

"Because if dey stay outta da ring for more dan twenty seconds, da match is over!" Mars snapped at her.

"But all four wrestlers are outside the ring!" Amy sternly defended herself. "If he's counting Kid and Checkmate out, he's counting Sprite and Death Angel out too!"

"Kid and Checkmate left the ring first," Kevin pointed out.

"But he's only making one count," Amy replied.

"Yeah, probably on Kid and Checkers," Mars said.

The four scrapping Chojins all stopped abruptly at the sound of the ring bell echoing throughout the stadium. They all looked about themselves in confusion, as though they did not even know what the sound was or where it had emanated from, far less what it actually meant.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Ikeman's voice announced. "The third round match of the Bad Blood Tournament has ended, as a result of a double count-out, in a tie."

"A tie?" Mars, Kevin and Amy echoed in unison.

"A tie?" Kid yelped. "What does that mean?"

"It means you didn't win!" Sprite sneered at him.

"Oh yeah, well neither did you!" Kid retorted.

"The deal was, you only get the girls back if you can defeat us," Sprite said smugly. "And you didn't defeat us today. Looks like you're a bachelor again, Kid Muscle!"

"What?" Kid gasped.

Kid watched in stunned silence as Sprite laughed maniacally at his predicament.

"Kid!" Meat called, running over to Kid's side. "You were out of bounds! It's a draw!"

Kid looked down at Meat, his face flinching a little as he saw his manager's battered appearance, his mask almost as badly weathered as Kid's was.

"They won't release Roxanne," he said quietly.

"What?" Meat snapped, rounding on The Anarchists.

"Not looking too good for the Muscle League, is it?" Sprite asked, pouting playfully at Kid. "Losing three-nil to the DMP…"

"We didn't lose!" Kid yelled, brandishing a fist at Sprite.

"But you didn't win, either," Sprite darkly replied, becoming serious once more. "And that was the deal. If you could defeat us, we would release the girls. You didn't defeat us. It's over."

Sprite shrugged his shoulders, backing away from Kid, Checkmate and Meat.

"Come on boys, let the girl go," Meat tried. "This ain't fair! You did this deliberately!"

Sprite's eyebrows shot up at Meat's accusation.

"Roxanne fell off the roof herself, it was Kid's stupid decision to come back here," Sprite replied. "If we'd wanted to win by count-out, one of our team would have stayed in the ring."

Sprite pointed at Death Angel, who had turned his back on Kid, Checkmate and Meat and was slowly walking after Sprite. Kid growled out an animalistic noise, squeezing his hand into a fist so tightly, the material of his glove burst across his knuckles.

"Damn you!" he cursed. "Roxanne!"

Kid turned and ran away from the others, heading in the direction Marie had come from, calling for his wife as he ran. Meat watched Kid go before turning back to Sprite, surprised to find Sprite looking a little shocked.

"Hey Kid, wait up!" Meat cried, running after Kid.

Kid meanwhile had barged into the Sapporo Dome, running aimlessly about in search of his wife. He knew that Edward had gone inside the building by another door and Kid was determined to find him and retrieve Roxanne by any means necessary.

"Roxanne!" he roared, his voice echoing around him and coming back to his ears in a gruff, barely recognisable tone that told of his desperation.

A short way ahead of him, Roxanne was sitting on the floor facing him, her legs sprawled out in front of her, one hand on her head, the other spayed against the floor to support her weight. Edward was crouched at her side, and his team-mate Fargo, the feline superhuman, was standing by her other side, his head turned in Kid's direction.

"Roxanne!" Kid called out, his tone a little more controlled.

Roxanne's hand slid from her face, leaving behind a smear of blood where she had apparently suffered an injury to her forehead. She stared blankly at Kid for a prolonged moment, leaving Kid feeling increasingly uneasy.

"R-Roxanne?" he asked softly.

"You don't have to do anything that he tells you to anymore, my dear," Edward said softly, holding out a hand in front of Roxanne. "You are welcome to stay with us, you know we will treat you as you deserve to be treated. With Kid Muscle you will only ever be a princess in name, but with me you will be treated with the respect and dignity of a queen."

Roxanne slowly moved her eyes to Edward, studying him thoughtfully.

"Wh-what?" Kid said nervously. "Roxanne, what did he just say to you? Don't listen to him Roxanne!"

Roxanne moved her eyes back to Kid, her expression still unreadable. Kid sighed in relief and smiled gently as Roxanne smacked Edward's hand aside, rising to her feet on her own. She took two steps towards Kid before stopping, eying him over with a still impassive expression.

"Let's get out of here," she said softly, turning and hooking her arm through Edward's.

"What the…" Kid squeaked. "Roxanne!"

Edward and Roxanne slowly walked off together, leaving Kid fighting against his own disbelief.

"Roxanne!" he screamed, his voice echoing around him and sounding even more ragged and disjointed than it felt against his chest. "Roxanne!"

Kid started to run after Edward and Roxanne, failing to spot Fargo leaping at him. Kid suddenly found himself facedown on the floor, the sensation of blood pumping out of freshly formed wounds on his upper chest. Looking up he saw Fargo standing over him, one hand raised, his claws extended, blood dripping quietly from his reddened fingers.

"Zhat vas a message," Fargo growled. "Be sure to pass eet on to Mars and Kevin for me."

Fargo shook his hand, spraying Kid with his own blood before turning and slowly sauntering off in the same direction Edward had taken. Meat skidded to a halt at Kid's side, slipping a little in Kid's blood, his arms flailing at his sides ungracefully for a moment.

"Kid, what happened?" he asked once he had righted himself.

"Sh-she left…" Kid whispered faintly, failing to notice Marie joining them. "Roxanne, she just… She got up and left with Edward. She chose to go with him… I don't understand…"

Meat turned to Marie, gulping nervously at the terrified look on her face.

"This really ain't good…" Meat muttered, lowering his eyes to the floor nervously.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Edward and Kiki have a discussion about Mars and Kevin learns some things about Amy that he wishes he had not. **Chapter 14 – Stay Strong**. 


	14. Stay Strong

**A/N:** I don't remember if I ever gave Kiki a surname in my other fics (and I'm too lazy to go looking), so if I did give her a surname before now and it's different from this one, apologies for the continuity error here.

Writing Robin Mask was a bit weird, hope y'all can still understand him with his lisp…

Apologies for language and non sequitur humour, think it was sleep deprivation again (Lucretia chronic insomniac).

**Recap:** The third round of the Bad Blood Tournament ended in a double count-out, leaving Roxanne's fate uncertain; but when asked to choose between Kid Muscle and the Muscle League or the DMP, Roxanne chose to go with Edward Mask and The Anarchists.

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Stay Strong**

Kiki pressed her ear to the door, silently infuriated that she was now alone in her prison, since Trixie and Jacqueline had defected to the DMP and Roxanne was – she hoped – now back in Kid's arms. Listening carefully, Kiki could hear The Anarchists returning, and several voices overlapping each other as they chatted. Kiki could not hear Roxanne's voice which, she decided, could only be a good sign.

As they drew nearer, Kiki stepped back to the centre of the room, smoothing her hands against her dress. As much as she desperately missed Mars, she was silently glad that he could not see her at that exact moment in time; she was still wearing her bridesmaid's dress from almost two weeks ago, and she had not even been allowed to shower in that time, so she was painfully aware that she must look awful. The girls had been imprisoned into an abandoned cottage that looked as though it had been used as a stable for animals as the floors were lined with straw and the walls were high and largely lacking in windows. Kiki sighed, tugging a strand of straw from her hair, whimpering at the sight of her muddied palms. She had tried to build a small hill from the straw to allow her to step up and look out the hole in the wall that seemed like a hollow window-frame – previously Roxanne had spied out of it by climbing on Jacqueline's shoulders – but on her own and standing at a fraction under five feet tall, Kiki had struggled to see anything at all, no matter how high she tried to jump. But Kiki's attempts to climb on stacks of straw had failed her too, and she had ended up falling over, tearing her dress and one of the gloves she wore, making her look even more untidy.

"Miss Nonaka," Edward's voice greeted her, as the door swung open.

"Eddie," Kiki flatly replied, smirking a little as she saw him twitch involuntarily.

Kiki had learned that Edward hated to be called Eddie, and so she had tried to call him Eddie at every given opportunity. Kiki had always had a playful sense of humour, but in recent months that aspect of her personality had flourished, thanks to the encouragement of a certain cheeky Chojin she had fallen hopelessly in love with.

"Kiki…"

Kiki gasped, unable to hide her shock as Roxanne entered the room, dressed in only her shoes, stockings and underwear, a long coat that was not her own and several sizes too big for her perched on her shoulders to give her additional warmth.

"Roxanne, what are you doing here?" Kiki asked bluntly.

"Kid Muscle failed," Trixie answered her, turning a thumb downwards in the air.

"No way!" Kiki shouted back. "Absolutely no way!"

"I'm afraid so, Miss Nonaka," Edward said with a sigh. "Which really only leaves you. I offered Roxanne the chance to return to her husband, but she chose to stay with me."

"What?" Kiki echoed, turning to Roxanne.

Roxanne's eyes were on the floor, but she nodded her head.

"I… I just don't know any more Kiki, you didn't see those guys out there tonight…" she said softly. "They weren't even trying. Kid's best attack was to take a dump in the middle of the ring…"

"There you have it," Edward said confidently. "And in about 40 hours, I will show you why Mars is the most unreliable member of the Muscle League by far."

Kiki thinned her eyes, squaring her shoulders defensively.

"And once that has been taken care of, I would be delighted of your company, Miss Nonaka," Edward said, bowing his head.

"Don't hold your breath!" Kiki snarled, edging back from him. "I would never join you and your stupid friends in anything! You didn't take any of us here by choice you kidnapped us on Roxanne's wedding day, ruining the best day of her life! You're a miserable jerk, and I hate you! You're just a shadow of you brother, and you can't get over that! You could have confronted Kevin like a man, but instead you dragged me and my friends, the entire Muscle League and all your friends into this mess too! Maybe my friends are too upset right now to understand, but I still know what a complete and utter ass you are!"

As Kiki finally stopped talking, she found herself trembling all over, cold streaks on her cheeks marking the tracks of her tears, her breathing irregular against her thundering heart and shuddering chest.

"Those are some strong words, Kiki," Edward said quietly. "Just a pity your words are stronger than you are. And perhaps it's time you learned a few truths about your precious Mars. I was going to save them for the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament, but since you have insulted me, I think I shall start tonight."

Edward flicked a hand in the air and the others left the room, taking Roxanne with them. Edward waited until the door was closed and he was alone with Kiki before continuing.

"What was Mars doing when you first met him, Kiki?" Edward asked quietly.

Kiki paused, eying Edward carefully as she tried to guess the purpose of his question.

"The first time I saw him, or the first time I spoke to him?" she asked slowly.

"The answer to both is the same," Edward replied. "When you first saw and when you first spoke to Mars, he was a member of the DMP, dressed in a ridiculous outfit, calling himself Eskara and disguising himself as a Justice Chojin of the Muscle League."

"I'm well aware of that," Kiki grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I was there when your delightful older brother told the whole world that story."

"Indeed," Edward continued, apparently unfazed by Kiki's flippant reply. "Kiki, after my brother told the world who Mars really was, and after Kid Muscle defeated Mars, what happened next?"

"What do you mean? Where are you going with this anyway?"

"Because as I recall, Mars fled the hospital early and returned to the remains of the DMP headquarters, where he prescribed himself his own course of treatment, which included smoking weed and playing with prostitutes, which he paid for by stealing money anyway he could. Then, when he heard that there was to be a Chojin Crown Tournament, he decided he wanted some of the glory, and he enlisted with the Hercules Factory."

Kiki faltered for a moment, the idea that she did not really now if Edward was telling the truth or not flitting through her mind; after all, Mars had never told her specifically what he did after he fled the hospital, only that between that time and the start of the Chojin Crown Championship he had denounced the DMP at the cost of a severe beating, enrolled in the Hercules Factory under his real name and re-sat his training. Graduation from the Hercules Factory did not take three years, and so there was the distinct possibility that Mars had returned to his former ways for any length of time before deciding to leave the DMP and follow the path of justice.

"Mars is a very charming man," Edward said darkly, after a long, quiet pause had passed. "There was a time when I believed every word that he said. He knows how to work people with his lies, just like he did to get into the Hercules Factory with his "Eskara" identity…"

Edward tucked his hands behind his back and slowly strode around the room, pausing at various points to inspect things he found of interest, including Kiki's attempt to build a straw hill. He eventually came to a halt a short distance behind Kiki, leaving her feeling distinctly uneasy.

"It must be terribly lonely for you in here with no-one to talk to…" he whispered. "No change of clothes, no shower… Barely even a toilet…"

"I would rather spend the rest of my life in here alone as I am than spend one day with you," Kiki coldly replied, looking back over her shoulder at him. "You won't turn me on Mars. Unlike my friends, I had to fight to be with my man, and I'm not gonna give all that up just because some spoilt little brat is jealous of his big brother."

Edward slowly nodded his head, walking past Kiki.

"I suspect your faith in old scarface will not be quite so concrete in two days' time, Kiki," he said calmly, heading towards the door. "Enjoy the bliss of ignorance you live in now, for after I reveal some truths about Mars, you will not be so confident or so content as you are now."

Edward marched out the door, slamming it forcefully shut behind himself and bolting it into place. Kiki slowly backed up to the pile of straw she had created, watching the door as she listened to Edward's footsteps fading into the distance. Once she reached the mound of straw, Kiki allowed herself to drop into it, hugging her arms around herself as she began to softly cry. Edward was at least right about one thing: she was very, very lonely, and it was getting harder and harder to stay strong.

* * *

_It's been so long since I last wrote_. _I've found the DMP Headquarters, and I've been writing up a report on the things I've learned there. I was going to sell my story, but now I'm not so sure. My main focus initially was on the Devil Chojin called Mars. He had an interesting past, one that he spoke freely about every time he got drunk or smoked pot – which was pretty much every night. It turns out that his father had big plans for him, but he ran away as a kid, and someone at the DMP scarred his face for life. I'm not quite sure how, but this stopped him from being able to go back home, as he would be a disgrace to his family, so he stayed in the DMP. His history was fascinating, but, over time, the main focus of my story, and indeed my interest, has shifted to Mars's partner, the Devil Chojin called Kevin Mask._

_Kevin was not born into the life of a Devil Chojin, he is in fact the son of Muscle League Legend Sir Robin Mask, but he appears to have joined the DMP as an act of rebellion against his father. Kevin is now, in a sense, bound to the DMP, since he told Mars his father's secret to save his own life – something to do with a method for reversing King Muscle's ultimate finisher, the Butt Buster. I missed the details of that story, I never really understood the technicalities of superhuman wrestling. But Kevin is not alone in his rebellion against his father or his association with Mars. Kevin has a younger brother called Edward who is also a member of the DMP. Edward spends an unreasonable amount of time following Mars around, and although he hates and resents his father just like Kevin does, he also hates and resents Kevin, and he appears to be continually plotting against Sir Robin Mask and Kevin. It_ _must be awful to have a brother like that_.

_It's been several weeks since I last wrote, although I have no concept of time. Tonight is my first night back at my apartment, after extensive time in hospital. What happened was impossible to recall at first, as though my mind was intentionally blocking it out for the sake of my sanity. But with time, my memory started to return, typically every time the morphine wore off and the deep, searing pain in my face returned, it brought with it scattered fragments of the events that led up to my hospitalisation, each piece of the puzzle slowly growing clearer in my mind. It all began when a big dragon ripped my face open, which happened when I tried to flee the DMP headquarters. I was caught by one of the Devil Chojins, a monstrous creature by the name of Doomsmane, more lizard than human, and certainly worthy to be called a Devil. He tore his claws over my face, and I don't really remember it being unbearably painful until I got to the hospital and woke up feeling as though my entire head was on fire. I screamed so much I got moved to another ward where I couldn't disturb the other patients. I truly thought I would die, and many times during my recovery, I wished that I would, because death was infinity preferable to a life of unending agony._

_But I did survive, and mainly only because Doomsmane admitted he hadn't used all his power on the first blow, and his second attack never reached me, as somebody came to my aid. Someone saved my life and then kissed me that night, and at first my memories of that amused me, because I thought they were some sort of silly, girlish dream I was having while heavily sedated. I dreamt a lot of nonsense whilst in the hospital, but I soon came to the realisation that my dashing hero had not been just a figment of my imagination, despite his distinct resemblance to some cute teenage heat-throb. It was actually Kevin Mask, he looks just like Nick Hasler. He has the same lost little schoolboy look about him, the same tender and innocent blue eyes, the same gorgeous blonde hair a girl just wants to claw her fingers through all day long. As much as the man drives me up the wall sometimes, I can't deny how smoulderingly sexy he looked when waves of his beautiful hair fell over his face as he leaned over to kiss me. In my shock when I found out he was actually Kevin Mask, I smacked him with his mask before passing out – when I woke up, I was in a hospital bed, and all the staff told me that an unusual man in an iron mask had taken me in, but had left again – if only they knew who he really was. As I lie here I wonder why Kevin still wears a mask: a face that good-looking should not be hidden away from the world. If I close my eyes, I can still see the gentle expression on his face as he tended to me, I can still taste his lips against mine, still feel his wonderfully silky smooth hair as it fell across the back of my hand. If only he hadn't been such a stuck-up, argumentative, critical, cold-shouldered emotional retard, I could have actually fallen quite madly in love with him._

_But I know, deep in my heart, that the only times I will ever see Kevin Mask again is on the television in a wrestling match or possibly in person in the ring if I ever manage to beat the crowds to get myself a ticket to a live IWF event. In a way, that is quite a pleasant and comforting thought, because now I am free to remember Kevin as the selfless hero who gave me a second chance at life. I don't have to think about his uptight and obnoxious attitude, and I can just remember him as the gorgeous man with the pretty, pretty hair riding around on his motorcycle like a knight of honour on a black steed. I've looked in the mirror since I got home, and any chances I may have had of ever being someone's princess have been quashed entirely – right now it looks as though someone removed a third of my face and made a really bad job of sticking it back on – but I get a nice feeling out of remembering that for just one moment in my life, even with my face hanging off and drenched in blood, someone thought enough of me to fight for me, to kiss me and to take me to safety. If I never find anyone who can see past the scars I now have to live with, I am happy with just that memory._

* * *

Kevin leaned back slowly until his metal mask clicked against the metallic back of the elevator. He had no idea why he and Mars had been summoned to the Muscle League Headquarters, because upon arrival, all they were offered was unlimited access to a buffet table, which Mars practically squealed with joy about, gorging himself in his usual uncouth manner, leaving Kevin feeling slightly ill in his wake. Kevin had decided to take Mars's distraction as an opportunity to sneak off to the chairman's office, where he completed his task of reading Amy's diary.

Not that he cared what she had written, he just wanted to know what was in there, since everyone else in the Muscle League had apparently already read it, and he had a right to know what they were saying about him behind his back.

Though a small part of Kevin regretted having read as much as he had. Reading that Amy thought he looked like Nick Hasler was meaningless; after all, everybody thought that, including Kevin himself, if he was being honest. But Amy seemed different to him after reading about her true feelings about certain things. She seemed weak somehow, after having always appeared so strong in his presence. It was a side of her Kevin had never suspected to exist, and he was really unsure how it made him feel to learn that she was vulnerable. She always seemed like a stubborn, headstrong individual who cared little (if at all) about what anyone else thought of her, particularly demonstrated lately by her willingness to dress like a fool in such a public venue as an IWF match. But apparently she was as vain as every other girl Kevin had ever known, because she had, in her words, admitted that what other people saw when they looked at her scarred face bothered her.

Kevin sighed as the elevator let out a soft ping, levelling as he arrived back on the floor he had left Mars on. The doors smoothly slid open, revealing one of the many grandiose hallways of the IWF headquarters. Kevin often mused that the money the McMadds had spent erecting ridiculous and meaningless monuments, commissioning less than artistic portraits and decorating their opulent workplace would be far better spent compensating the men who risked their lives daily to keep the business running; which sharply reminded Kevin that, since winning the Chojin Crown, he was the new leader of the Muscle League, and if that title meant anything, perhaps he could use it to negotiate a better deal for himself with Ikeman.

"Oh my gosh, it's such an honour!"

Kevin slowed, stiffening a little at the sound of a familiar voice becoming clear over the faint babble of those inside the conference room he was aiming for.

"My father was a huge fan of yours, and he always said his happiest moment was the day he served you a meal at Buckingham Palace!"

Kevin edged closer to the entrance of the room, unsure if his mind had somehow escaped him; the voice sounded a lot like Amy, but he had never heard her sound so cheerful and girlish.

"Oh really?" a voice asked.

Kevin stiffened. That was clearly his father, Robin Mask.

"Yes, he cooked for you the day you received your knighthood!"

Kevin pressed his back against the wall, peering around the corner, Amy gradually coming into his sights. To his absolute amazement, she was dressed in normal clothes, she was smiling, and she even looked as though she was blushing slightly. Leaning further over, Kevin saw his father standing in front of Amy, his back turned to Kevin.

"That wash a wonderful meal ash I recall," Robin said.

"Oh thank you, Sir Mask, my father would be so happy to know that," Amy gushed, clasping her hands by her face. "You know, I was practically brought up watching you on television. My dad owned videos of all your major wrestling matches, and he never tired of watching them! My mum even taped the broadcast of your wedding!"

"Well, it'sh not often I meet a lady ash young ash you who can remember who I am," Robin replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, well, what can I say?" Amy said, looking suddenly bashful. "I really loved it when you were coaching Warsman, that Mr Barracuda disguise was… Kinda sexy actually."

Kevin almost fell to the floor, a cold sweat breaking out over his entire body. Had he heard correctly? Had Amy just called his father sexy?

"I hear that a lot," Robin replied. "And what about you? How did you come to be in Japan?"

"Oh, after school I went to a culinary school in France for a year, and while I was there, I started thinking I wanted to learn about Japanese cuisine, and the best way to do that was just to move out here," Amy replied. "I struggled to find work, I mainly had to wait tables to pay my way at first, but lucky for me I found a really cool guy who offered me an apartment above his restaurant rent-free if I worked for him. And then at the Chojin Olympics, King Muscle and a few others came to the restaurant and loved the food, and King Muscle offered me a job working with him. I'd had some bad luck just before that, so I took the job because I really needed to get away."

"You're Shuguru's chef?" Robin asked.

"Yes, that's right."

"You're the girl my shon Kevin hash a crush on!"

"What?"

Amy's face suddenly turned white and crumpled into a scowl, looking far more like she did when she looked at Kevin himself.

"Good God no!" she said firmly. "That was just a stupid rumour based on information people found in my private diaries! And it's not in the least bit true!"

"I shee…" Robin said slowly. "I did think it wash odd that he shoved to the ground yeshterday if he liked you."

"No offence Sir Mask, but your sons are a pair of arseholes," Amy said bluntly.

Robin laughed light-heartedly as though Amy had just told him an inoffensive and mildly amusing anecdote.

"I blame myshelf for that," he said once he had recovered.

"Well you shouldn't," Amy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If they had turned out like you they would be alright. And we wouldn't be going through all this crap right now, there would be no "Bad Blood Tournament" and those poor girls would be free."

"I think tomorrow Marsh and Kevin will short thish whole thing out," Robin said confidently.

"I don't," Amy flatly replied. "The day before a big fight, and Mars is stuffing his face on rich food, and Kevin is nowhere to be found."

"The boysh left their accommodation, I think they have found shomewhere to train together," Robin suggested.

"Pfft!" Amy snorted. "They're staying with me, in my old apartment! Shopping for Mars is a full-time job because he devours everything I buy like some sort of food vacuum, and Kevin has all the social grace of a bull in a china shop that has… Tourette's and diarrhoea!"

Robin laughed again.

"No, Sir Mask, it's really not funny," Amy implored. "This morning he asked me if I was wearing perfume."

"What'sh wrong with that?" Robin asked.

Kevin cringed, hoping Amy would not divulge the full extent of the argument she had launched into with him that morning before she took off from the apartment.

"He said I smelt like an old lady's handbag," Amy said miserably.

Robin started to laugh, but quickly stopped himself as he caught the sullen look on Amy's face.

"And then he told me I should be happy, because it was better than the way I usually smell," Amy continued. "Which, according to him, is like soy sauce and sushi."

"Oh…" Robin said quietly.

"I told him he smells of leather, eucalyptus and blackcurrant, and he thought I was being nice. He didn't understand that I was trying to point that he's always snivelling, like he always has a cold, and he always smells of cold medicine. It wasn't meant as a compliment. He then accused me of sniffing him, but he sniffed me first!"

"Uh-huh…"

"And then he told me I was a snake – for no good reason! Snakes are nature's cheats and liars, that was a horrid thing to say to me, especially when I've been kind enough to take him into my home and put up with his mentholated, leather-clad arse!"

"Okay…"

"And then, when I got mad at him, he called Mars to come and make me stop shouting at him! And Mars was in the shower at the time, and he said he was making himself decent, but this is Mars we're talking about here, so he just walks into the room dripping wet, completely naked, one hand on his hip, the other cupped around his… Bits, and he's like "hey, what gives?"."

Kevin was unsure if he wanted laugh or cringe at what he was witnessing. Amy was standing in front of Robin Mask, one hand on her hip and one clawed in front of her groin, mocking Mars's face and stance to perfection.

"And then, your son, the supposed "English gentleman"," Amy continued, breaking her stance to signal quotation marks in the air. "The alleged "Nobleman in an Iron Mask", asks Mars what he's holding in his hand!"

Amy grabbed a hand at the airspace in front of her crotch again, her eyes suddenly ablaze.

"And Mars, being the totally uncouth, arrogant prick that he is," she continued. "Takes his hand away and says "what are you kiddin' me, dat's my"–"

"Amy!" Kevin blurted out, walking into the room a little stiffly, deciding that he could not possibly allow her to continue her retelling of the morning's events, least of all with hand actions, vocal impersonations of Mars, and in a voice loud enough to draw attention from most of the rest of the room, including Mars himself, who appeared to be amused by the whole affair.

"Kevin," she spat out, moving her hands to her hips and scowling at him. "I'm surprised to see you here. I didn't think that you enjoyed food and polite company!"

"Well you're wrong," Kevin said flatly. "Father," he said, turning to Robin Mask.

"I hear you're shatying with thish young lady, Kevin," Robin replied.

"Yes, that's right," Kevin admitted. "But not for long. Just one more night, and then I can go home and she can go back to slaughtering cows on Muscle Planet."

"I'm not a butcher, you ignorant creep!" Amy yelled at him.

"She's very violent and extremely unpleasant," Kevin said quietly to Robin.

"And "she" is that way because "she" has to put up with you!" Amy argued.

"Just the other day she poured boiling hot soup into my mask and burned my face," Kevin added, ignoring Amy.

"That's because you were talking about pussy!" Amy yelled.

"She's a bit of a hopeless Muscle League fangirl, but I'm sure you've figured that much out for yourself by now," Kevin said to Robin.

"I'm not a fangirl!" Amy growled.

"You just told my father you own videos of all his wrestling bouts, and you think he's sexy."

Kevin turned to Amy, watching as she straightened her back, her eyes positively alight with anger.

"What, and you were sneaking around listening in to our conversation?" she asked.

"You're the one who sneaks around listening in where she's not wanted," Kevin pointed out. "And besides, you're such a loud-mouthed little harlot, I could hear you from the other end of the building."

"How dare you call me names like that?"

"What were you doing the night I saved your life from street thugs?"

"You never saved my life, you just interfered and tried to tell me I should be attracted to you because you're so damn rude!"

"Well you–"

"Kevin, behave yourshelf."

Kevin stopped abruptly, freezing on the spot. His eyes slowly moved to his father, horrified to find that Robin had in fact been addressing him.

"You shouldn't talk to a lady like that," Robin reminded him.

"She is not a lady," Kevin said carefully.

"Of courshe she ish!" Robin replied. "Now apologishe to the lady for being rude to her."

"What?" Kevin echoed. "Apologise? To that thing?"

"Thing?" Amy squawked.

"You don't know what a nasty little snake she is!" Kevin argued. "She spied on me when I was in the DMP, and she almost–"

"Treating a lady with no reshpect ish unforgivable," Robin cut him off. "Now apologishe."

Kevin scowled at his father before turning to Amy, a little surprised to find her looking suddenly pacified and almost a little upset.

"Forget it Kevin," she muttered, turning her back on him and walking off.

Kevin shook his head as he watched her go.

"You see, that is exactly what I'm talking about!" he said, holding a hand out in the direction she was walking. "Women are just so damn…"

Kevin slowly stopped as he turned to his father, who, despite wearing his mask as always, was still clearly giving him a disapproving look.

"What?" he asked.

"Kevin, not everyone ish a superhuman Chojin warrior," Robin said, clapping a hand onto Kevin's shoulder. "Shon, you have to remember that people may do odd thingsh, but they do it becaushe they care."

Kevin blinked, his brain screaming inside his head.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked gruffly. "Honestly, I don't speak to you for the best part of ten years, and that's the best father-son advice you have for me? Bloody hell, I'm better off asking Mars for advice!"

Kevin shook his head, marching off in the direction of his avian friend, deciding that listening to some of Mars's brutally honest humour was exactly what he needed at that moment.

"Hey Mask, check dis shit out," Mars said as Kevin approached him. "It's beef negimaki, but dey serve it wid mango sauce. I dunno who decided to put fruit in dis, but it is fuckin' beautiful!"

Mars picked up a chunk of beef between two chopsticks but promptly dropped it again, his chopsticks clattering against his bowl as Kevin suddenly grabbed his arms around Mars from one side.

"Uh, Kev…?" Mars asked quietly, glancing about himself nervously before looking at the man clung onto his side. "What da hell are ya doin'? You're embarrassin' me here!"

Kevin released Mars, turning to stand alongside him. Mars stared at him questioningly for a prolonged moment before finally deciding that he would need to press Kevin for an explanation.

"Everythin' okay?" he asked quietly.

"It will be," Kevin tightly replied.

"Okay den," Mars said with a nod of his head, gathering up his chopsticks to resume eating.

"You know, back in England, back when I was still with the DMP, they had a name for me," Kevin began.

"Dey gotta name for you right here, right now," Mars replied through a mouthful of food. "And I gotta few names for you too!"

"I'm being serious, Mars," Kevin said firmly. "Back in England, back in 2008, I was known as "David Beckham of the Chojin World"."

"Who da fuck is David Beckham?" Mars asked.

"Ooh, I know who David Beckham is!" Ikeman said cheerfully, sliding over to stand next to Mars. "He was a famous English soccer player!"

"Oh yeah?" Mars asked disinterestedly. "Did he look like Nick Hasler?" he added, pointing at Kevin with his chopsticks.

"No!" Ikeman replied, shaking his head. "He was very famous, he married a former pop star, and he was always dressed sharply!"

Mars frowned, chewing slowly on his food, waggling his chopsticks in the air, a pensive look on his face.

"Ain't he dat real stupid guy who wears skirts and is married to dat really annoyin', skinny broad?" Mars asked.

"That's the one," Kevin said. "No, wait, what? David Beckham was a–"

"A guy who was a dumb blonde, wore real bad clothes and spent most of his time wid a really annoyin' bitch," Mars interrupted him. "Hey, I get it now! You are da IWF's David Beckham!"

"Are you saying I'm a dumb blonde who dresses poorly and spends time in the company of…"

Kevin slowly turned in the direction Mars's chopsticks were aimed, locating Amy lecturing Wally Tusket's mother and sister on something.

"You're right," he said quietly.

Mars laughed a little, stopping as Kevin turned to him. Kevin slowly looked Mars over, before allowing himself to laugh a little.

"You are right you bloody arsehole!" he admitted.

"Yeah, it's funny as fuck, huh?" Mars asked, laughing openly.

"You swear a lot when Kiki isn't here!" Kevin said, laughing along with him.

"Yeah I gotta get it outta me before tomorrow," Mars said with a small sigh. "Cause she'd fuckin' whoop my ass if she heard me talkin' shit."

Kevin laughed louder still.

"You're pussy-whipped!" he said.

"Aw shit, Kev!" Mars sighed. "Just because you know what pussy is now, right? You're a fuckin' dumb-ass!"

"And you're fucking disgusting, you're eating beef and mango!"

"Oh yeah? And you can't even get laid wid a chick you been chasin' after for years, even livin' in da same apartment as her!"

"I'm not trying anything with her, I can't stand her! And I can't wait until tomorrow, because then we will be free of her!"

"Oh yeah, sure, cause dat's really da last time you're ever gonna see horseface."

"It is."

Mars snorted, muttering something indecipherable into his food.

"You're a shit," Kevin told him.

"Yeah, but everybody loves me like dat," Mars replied with a shrug. "Even you, bucket-head."

Kevin laughed and shook his head at Mars, relieved at least that Mars was always predictable, if nothing else.

"Just so long as you ain't got no more fucked up little brothers we oughta know about, we'll be good after tomorrow," Mars said.

"No younger brothersh, but one older brother," Robin said suddenly, joining Kevin and Mars.

"What?" Kevin yelped.

"Yesh, I had a brief affair with a wonderful Mexican woman during my time in America," Robin said slowly. "She gave me a shon, but we alwaysh argued over what to name him. She called him Ricardo, but he will alwaysh be Richard to me."

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me, old man?" Mars snapped.

"I'm your eldest son!" Kevin added. "And besides, if you had this affair while you were in America, that was after you met my mother! You cheated on mum!"

"That'sh why Richard ish a bashtard," Robin said with a sigh.

Kevin started at the sound of a small giggle behind Robin, and leaning past him to find Amy standing not too far from them.

"He wash a very angry young man." Robin said solemnly. "He didn't like being called Dick Mashk."

Amy began to laugh into her hand, an action that seemed pointless to Kevin, since her sniggering was just as loud behind her hand as it was without her attempt to conceal her merriment.

"Dick Mask?" Mars repeated. "Okay, now I know you're shittin' us old man."

"It wash worth it for the look on Kevin'sh face," Robin whispered to him.

Mars looked back at Kevin, who was sweating through his mask, laughing at what he saw.

"I hate you all!" Kevin groaned, turning his back on them and marching off.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kevin and Mars are preparing for the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament, but things don't quite go as they had planned. **Chapter 15 – Contact Sport**. 


	15. Contact Sport

**A/N:** Another inane intermission. The plot is on vacation, but will return in the next chapter.

Cookies to TRuE BLuE SkY for spotting where I got Kiki's surname from.

**Recap:** Edward successfully won Roxanne over to his side, leaving Kiki alone in her defiance against The Anarchists and in her temporary prison. Kevin read the remainder of Amy's diary and was surprised at what he found.

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Contact Sport**

Kevin grabbed Mars into a headlock a little tighter than he had intended to, turning his head towards the back of the gym. A single, battered old wooden bench was stood there, and the two people sat on it made no sense to Kevin whatsoever.

"Hey, what gives?" Mars asked, slapping at Kevin's arm. "I'ma fight dirty too if you're gonna be like dat!"

But Kevin ignored Mars, his eyes still fixed on the pair chatting happily together at the end of the gym. They were both dressed in loose black sweatpants and pale green sweaters that bore the Hercules Factory logo; which made even less sense to Kevin.

"Have it your way, steel chops!" Mars growled, grabbing an arm around Kevin's waist and hoisting him up into the air.

"Hey!" Kevin yelped as his feet left the ground, groaning out as Mars brought his back down sharply across his knee.

"What da hell is wrong wid you, huh?" Mars demanded, holding Kevin in place.

"Nothing, I'm just taking it seriously, like you wanted me to," Kevin lied.

"Well alright den," Mars agreed, shoving Kevin to the mat and standing up.

Kevin rolled over, grabbing at the ropes of the training ring and pulling himself to his feet.

"Nice goin', boys!" Meat cheered, clapping his hands appreciatively as he caught Kevin looking in his direction. "Another half an hour and I think you boys should just do a few light exercises before early to bed, and up tomorrow for a run!"

"Who da hell put you in charge, ya fuckin' Oompa-Loompa?" Mars asked bluntly.

"Mars!" Kevin hissed. "That's fine Meat."

Meat nodded, but his eyes were on Mars.

"Y'know Mars, if there's anythin' you gotta tell us before tomorrow, now would be a good time," Meat said slowly. "Cause I'm gettin' older here and I don't like surprises. Not good for my heart, y'know?"

Mars narrowed his golden eyes at Meat, his face taking on a look Kevin had not seen since Mars's DMP days.

"And how about you kiss my ass, motherfucker?" Mars spat at him.

"Mars!" Kevin snapped.

"I'm gettin' sick o' dis shit," Mars announced, kicking the bottom rope. "I gotta carry da entire Muscle League, cause nobody got even one good shot in at dose damn punk kids we gotta fight!"

"I'm goin' to the hospital to see how Kid's doin'," Meat said flatly. "Amy, you stay here and keep an eye on those two, yeah?"

"What?" Amy yelped. "I can't stay here alone with–"

"Thanks Amy," Meat cut her off, walking towards the door.

"But…" Amy said weakly.

Amy turned to the ring as the door banged shut, looking a little afraid as she eyed Mars and Kevin over.

"I didn't ask to be here," she said a in a low voice.

"You're wearing a Hercules Factory sweater!" Kevin pointed out, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"That doesn't mean I wanted to be stuck alone in a room with you sweating and groaning all over the place!" Amy argued, balling his fists at her side.

"Hey toots, relax!" Mars said, holding up a hand at Amy. "I hear dey got sugar-cubes down in da canteen, why don't cha go get yourself some and cheer up, huh?"

"I'm not a bloody horse!" Amy snapped.

"You fuckin' look like one!" Mars shouted.

"I'm a human, unlike you, you're a fucking albatross – you swoop in, makes lots of pointless noise and spread shit everywhere!"

"Hey, you watch your fuckin' language bitch, dat ain't no way for a lady to talk!"

"You fucking hypocrite! You're just angry because you're in love!"

Kevin was amazed to see Mars falter at Amy's words, his stance relax a little.

"Oh yeah? And what da hell would you know, huh?" Mars grumbled, pushing down the top rope and stepping over it. "You don't know shit about me."

Mars dropped to the ground, walking over to Amy.

"You're upset because you're worried about Kiki," Amy said quietly, folding her arms and raising her chin in an almost smug manner.

"You leave my girl outta dis," Mars warned her.

"I didn't drag your girl into this, Edward did!" Amy argued. "And besides, I think it's really sweet."

"Da fuck?" Mars blurted.

"You," she explained. "It's really sweet how you've changed."

"I ain't changed shit!" Mars snapped moodily.

"You have actually," Amy flatly replied. "I was in the front row of the Chojin Crown final. I saw what happened."

Mars looked over his shoulder at Kevin for a moment before raking his eyes over Amy curiously.

"Yeah, I lost," he eventually said.

"No, you won, you idiot!" Amy replied.

"You're da fuckin' idiot, I lost!" Mars argued.

"You lost the match, but I saw you with Kiki afterwards. You were the real winner. She really loves you. Which is strange, she seemed like such a nice girl."

"She is a nice girl. She's a very nice girl."

"I know. You're a lucky man, Mars. You got a second chance. At your pursuit of power and with your girl."

Mars nodded his head.

"Yeah, I did," he agreed. "I love Kiki. She's my girl."

"I know you do," Amy said softly, touching a hand to Mars's shoulder. "I'm really proud of you. You've really turned your life around from when I first met you."

"Yeah," Mars said slowly. "Yeah, dat's right, I have."

"It's sweet."

"Yeah it is sweet."

Kevin choked out a noise of disbelief as he watched Amy smile warmly up at Mars, who she had somehow tamed in a matter of mere seconds.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, leaping over the top rope and landing on the floor below with a thud. "What's going on here?"

"We was just talkin'," Mars answered plainly, turning to Kevin as he joined them.

"No, that's not it!" Kevin said slowly. "You two hate each other! Or did you forget that?"

"Hey, da common enemy here is Eddie and Da Antichrists," Mars said, smirking a little at his own joke.

"But…" Kevin began, glancing back and forth between Mars and Amy. "You!" he said, pointing a finger at Amy. "This is your fault!"

"What?" Amy echoed. "Why do you always have to pick fights with me? You are such a total dick-head!"

"What are you even doing here?" Kevin continued, ignoring Amy's question. "What kind of idiot can't get on board an intergalactic space cruiser? Twice? And what about the ship that took King Muscle here? Are you honestly telling me it couldn't take you back to where you belong?"

"I belong here!" Amy argued back. "I was born on Earth! You're the one who belongs on another planet!"

"This is all just another transparent excuse to follow me around!" Kevin shot back. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you! And my God you're an ungrateful arse, I gave you a place to stay and I'm trying to support you and your friends!"

"Those people are not my friends!"

"Sorry, my mistake, I forgot: Kevin Mask is too cool to make friends! He's a stone-cold, lady-killing loner!"

"I don't kill ladies!"

"It's a figure of speech, you idiot!"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else right now, sticking your hand up a chicken's arse?"

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else right now, sticking your head up your arse?"

"You are miserable little waif of a – what the hell are you laughing at, Mars?"

Mars continued to laugh shamelessly, despite Kevin's challenge.

"Don't stop, I'm still listenin'," Mars insisted, waving his hands at Kevin and Amy.

"I'm not doing this for your amusement!" Kevin snapped irritably. "Seriously girl, what use are you?"

"What?" Amy echoed, grabbing a handful of Kevin's T-shirt and tugging him down to her level. "How can you say something so horrid to me?"

"I meant right now," Kevin ground out. "Fans are like poison to a true Chojin. A needless distraction."

"I'm only here because Meat asked me to stay!" Amy growled back.

"We're trying to prepare for a major battle," Kevin said slowly. "You are getting in the way. Unless you think you can help us train, I suggest you leave."

"I can't leave, I promised Meat I would stay!"

"Then make yourself useful."

Kevin stepped back, holding a hand out in the direction of the ring. Amy looked over at the ring, her angry determination slowly fading.

"What, you expect me to go in there and fight you?" she snorted, turning back Kevin to eye him over incredulously. "Get real! You're like three times my size! I'm not stupid! You'll kill me!"

"Just get in the ring," Kevin said quietly.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Kev, she's just a girl," Mars pointed out. "She ain't even a wrestler–"

"You, shut-up," Kevin cut him off. "You, get in the ring," he said to Amy.

"I don't get what you're trying to prove here," Amy said moodily, marching towards the ring regardless.

She made her way over to a set of steps at one corner of the ring, stepping up them carefully and climbing through the ropes to get into the ring.

"Weird…" she muttered as she looked about herself. "I never thought I'd be on this side of the action…"

Kevin walked over to the ring, reaching up a hand to the top rope, pulling it down and launching himself into the air, using the spring of the rope to flip himself over from the floor onto the mat inside the ring.

"Show-off…" Amy grumbled.

Kevin began walking around the ring as he would at the start of any match, watching Amy carefully. She walked backwards as he moved, keeping herself faced towards him and keeping him an even distance from herself; but she did not look in the least bit frightened of him. Kevin began to wonder if that was what he had expected of her. Did he want her to be frightened of him? Well, at least if she was afraid of him she would stop teasing him all the time.

"Attack me," he said flatly.

"No way!" Amy scoffed.

"Do it," Kevin demanded. "Come at me with everything you've got. No rules. Just try to hurt me as best you can."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Amy asked. "And what good would that do anyway?"

"I have no idea how tough you may or may not be," Kevin explained. "I don't know what, if any, fighting skills you have. You are completely unpredictable, defending myself from you will force me to stay alert."

"You'll hit me back and I'll die!" Amy complained.

"I won't hit you back, I promise," Kevin replied. "I will just defend myself."

"I don't want to end up in hospital!" Amy warned him. "I don't like hospitals."

"Then you'd better start attacking me, or I'll do it first."

"You said you wouldn't attack me!"

Kevin paused for a moment, watching Amy stumble to a halt from her retreat, eying him warily, but still looking more unsure than afraid.

"You have a fat arse and disproportionately long arms and legs," Kevin said darkly.

"Holy shit Kev, don't say dat to her face!" Mars yelled from outside the ring.

Kevin turned to answer Mars but his attention was brought sharply back to the ring as Amy swung a kick at his groin. He quickly thrust out the heels of his hands, catching her ankle in both hands at his thighs.

"That's an illegal move," he pointed out.

"You said no rules," Amy said, smirking at him slyly. "You said I just had to try to hurt you as much as possible, and nothing hurts more than that, right?"

"Wrong," Kevin corrected her, pushing her leg away and releasing his hold. "Try again.

Amy came at him in a loose, undisciplined stance that clearly spoke of someone who knew nothing of even the most basic fighting skills, seemingly repeating her action before, swinging back her leg. Kevin began to wonder what had possessed him to invite her into the ring in the first place, when suddenly her stance shifted, she raised her arms and twisted around, swinging her leg high. Kevin dodged to one side, the blast of air from her kick ruffling his hair as she barely missed kicking him in the temple. Undeterred by her miss, she spun around, aiming a roundhouse kick at Kevin's abdomen, which he was forced to double over to avoid.

Stepping back curiously, Kevin watched Amy lower herself into a familiar stance, grinning at him confidently.

"Maybe you weren't listening to me, Kevin," she said in a sly voice. "I told you I have absorbed the local culture here. And the last few years of living here, I've picked up a thing of two about martial arts. I may not be a superhuman freak like you, but I'm not just some weak little fangirl."

"Glad to hear it," Kevin replied, controlling his tone and containing his actual genuine surprise that she could act as tough as she talked. "Keep going. You might actually get lucky after all."

Amy quirked an eyebrow at Kevin, but he merely beckoned her to continue, ignoring her attempt to play with his choice of words.

"Right you are," she muttered.

Mars stood back, tilting his head to one side, unsure if he found what was happening in front of him amusing or deeply disturbing. Kevin appeared to be humouring the girl into thinking that she was a challenge for him, when with one effortless slap he could easily send her hurtling across the room.

"You guys are weird," Mars grumbled. "You should just fuck each other and shut up about it already."

"What?" Amy roared, kicking harder at Kevin. "Tell him Kevin!"

Kevin remained silent, ducking around Amy's attacks, gauging her exact strength and speed. Her defences had dropped a little in response to Mars's comment, and the natural fighter in Kevin saw the opening, despite his better senses warning him that this was just a game, an animalistic instinct overtook his body and he pounced at her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her from the ground.

"What the hell are you doing, you said no contact!" Amy screamed, her body stiffening against him.

"It's a contact sport," Kevin growled, pulling her around to face him, a little surprised himself to find her head level with his.

She stared at him with an unreadable expression, her face a little red from either anger, awkwardness or just the physical exertion of attacking Kevin; he could not be sure which was the case.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, gripping at his upper arms and leaning back in his hold in an attempt to distance herself from him.

Kevin remained silent, studying the girl in his arms very carefully. She was starting to sweat, her hair was ragged, she wore no make-up, and she was dressed in clothing Kevin knew was meant for a man, simply because their were very rarely any female students at the Hercules Factory, and so it was unlikely that they kept a supply of women's clothing; and yet still there was something distinctly different about her. Kevin really wished he knew what it was so that he could make himself forget about it; but alas he could never quite explain why he could walk through the corridors of the IWF Headquarters surrounded by women dressed like show girls without so much as batting an eyelid and yet this ridiculous girl had the power to make him stop in his tracks.

"Put me down," she said quietly. "Please."

Her expression had softened considerably, and Kevin began to recognise the signs of her confidence breaking.

"Are you scared?" he asked her.

"Right now I am, yes," she honestly replied.

"That's very weak to just admit to that," Kevin pointed out.

"No, it's not weak, it's honest. I don't know any other way to be."

Maybe, Kevin mused, that was one of the things he found so intriguing about Amy: her blunt honesty. Kevin had always despised deception of any form.

"You've proved your point," Amy whispered. "If you put me down I'll leave, and I won't bother you again. With any luck, after you defeat Edward I can go home with the Kinniku family."

"I don't need luck to beat my brother," Kevin said flatly.

"That wasn't what I meant, I meant hopefully they will let all the girls go after tomorrow," Amy corrected herself. "Now please put me down."

"Yeah c'mon Kev, put da girl down," Mars said from outside the ring. "We're wastin' time here."

"I'm trying to make a point here!" Kevin snapped at him.

Mars pulled a face at Kevin that suggested he did not really want to hear any more.

"You keep grabbin' at girls like dat and you're gonna make yourself one hell of a point alright…" Mars muttered, his words barely audible.

"It wasn't a double entendre!" Kevin told him, before turning back to Amy.

"He's trying to prove that I'm scared of him," Amy said flatly, turning to Mars. "He's seven feet and three hundred pounds of superhuman and I'm a girl, but I'm sure that's irrelevant."

"It is irrelevant!" Kevin snapped at her. "Have you learnt nothing living with the Kinnikus?"

Amy turned back to Kevin, frowning at him curiously.

"Superhuman or not, I can still feel pain," Kevin growled quietly.

"I never said that you couldn't!" Amy replied defensively.

"Then why did you pour hot soup onto my face?" Kevin roared.

"Because I knew it wouldn't really hurt you!" Amy shouted back. "You've got something underneath that mask, haven't you?"

"Yes I have!" Kevin replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "It's called my face!"

Kevin opened his arms and Amy landed on her feet again, staggering back a few steps from him. He tore off his mask with one hand, pointing at the marks on his face with the other.

"You think this is funny?" he asked quietly, stalking towards Amy.

"Oh Kevin!" Amy gasped, backing away from him fearfully. "I never realised it would actually burn you!"

"What sort of chef are you?" Kevin sneered. "You took it straight off the stove!"

"But I thought you had something under the mask, like a stocking or something!"

"A stocking?"

"A face stocking."

"Like a bank robber?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders desperately and started to answer Kevin, her words disappearing into an involuntary grunt as her back hit a corner-post.

"I'm sorry," she recovered, holding up both hands as Kevin continued his advance, swallowing her up under his impressive shadow.

"Really?" he mumbled, stopping finally when the toes of his boots were less than an inch from Amy's own feet.

"Absolutely," Amy insisted, pressing one hand over her heart. "But in my defence, you were the one being an ass."

Kevin reached his hands out, grabbing a top rope in each hand and leaning forwards. Amy squashed herself into the corner in an attempt to keep the distance between them, failing miserably as Kevin leaned in on her.

"I don't understand why–" Kevin began, stopping short as he suddenly became aware of something behind Amy.

Lifting his eyes from Amy, Kevin saw Mars standing directly behind her on the ring apron, a piece of paper in his hands. Mars looked a little green and almost looked unhappy; but a quick read of the fax in Mars's hand told Kevin why.

"Well at least we don't have far to go this time," Kevin said flatly, snatching the fax from Mars and stepping back from Amy to study it more closely.

"I hate your brother, Kevin," Mars said in a low voice.

Kevin snorted.

"I don't see the problem," he said lightly, shrugging his shoulders. "We can get there on my bike very quickly, and it says the park is closed for the event, so it's not as though it will be the mass gathering of the unwashed that it usually is."

Amy craned her neck, trying to peek at the fax in Kevin's hand. After a few failed attempts, she turned to Mars, starting a little at the look on his face.

"How bad can it be?" she asked, laughing a little. "I thought you were confident that you and Kevin could beat Edward and Fargo. What does it matter where the fight is held?"

"Well…" Mars began slowly, his eyes wandering to his feet.

"It's in Tokyo Disneyland," Kevin said with a sigh, turning the fax around to face Amy.

"Oh," Amy said, frowning at the fax curiously. "So why is that bad? It says the park is closed to visitors, only those involved with the fight and the spectators with tickets will be allowed in. What's the big deal?"

"No idea," Kevin said, shaking his head. "Perhaps Mars is afraid of mice…"

"I ain't scared o' nothin'!" Mars snapped, his eyes locking onto Kevin.

"Okay," Kevin said casually.

"Are you scared of mice, Mars?" Amy asked, turning to Mars.

"No!" Mars immediately replied.

"Well what then?" Amy asked.

"Nothin'!" Mars sternly replied. "I'm gettin' outta here."

Mars leapt off the ring apron to the ground below, walking off towards the door. Kevin and Amy watched him go before turning back to each other. Amy arched her eyebrows and tilted her head.

"I don't understand that at all," she confessed.

"It's the precise location of the fight that's the problem," Kevin said quietly, pointing to the name of the ring location.

Amy read it again and shrugged.

"Tomorrowland, so what?" she asked.

"It's the building next to Space Mountain," Kevin replied, pointing at the small crudely drawn map Edward had apparently included in his message. "Mars is scared of roller-coasters."

"What?" Amy echoed, almost choking on her own laughter. "You're kidding me?"

Kevin shook his head, allowing himself to smile a little.

"He's positively terrified of them," he said with a nod of his head. "And Edward knows that."

"But… Why?" Amy asked. "How can roller-coasters be any scarier than fighting an evil Chojin?"

Kevin shrugged, laughing a little at the idea.

"He does all those high-flying, high-impact moves…" Amy said, waving her hands above her head. "Ultimate Scar Buster… Surely that takes more out of him than sitting in a roller-coaster ride?"

Kevin laughed a little more, shaking his head.

"And he's a bird!" Amy added. "He stands on the back of your motorbike! He survived all those challenges at height in the Hercules Factory and The Academy…"

Kevin laughed harder, pointing at the fax.

"It's his only weakness!" he said.

"No, it's not actually," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "But it is a really funny one."

They both laughed for a bit before the novelty of the joke wore off.

"Well, I…" Amy began, scratching at her head.

"Yes, I…" Kevin began, looking down at the fax again.

"Should get going," Amy finished.

"Must be on my way," Kevin added.

Amy looked up at Kevin, and he turned to her, their eyes locking for a prolonged moment before Amy let out a small, nervous laugh, one hand moving to the side of her face.

"It's still growing back in, huh?" she asked, tugging at the loose hair at the side of her face.

Kevin made to question her but words failed him, his hand automatically moving to the chunk of shorter hair at the left side of his face.

"How can you…?" he began.

"I remember Mars cut it," Amy explained. "During your fight. The Chojin Crown final round. Mars used the Red Rain of Pain, and he caught your hair."

"Yes, that's right…" Kevin muttered, eying Amy over curiously. "It was just that… Well, nobody else ever mentioned it before now."

"Well that's probably because it's usually hidden behind your mask," Amy suggested, pointing at the mask in Kevin's hand.

Kevin lifted his hand a little, looking down at his mask thoughtfully for a moment.

"I didn't think anyone could remember that," he said slowly, moving his eyes back to Amy.

Amy rolled her eyes adopting a slightly sarcastic smirk Kevin had seen her use so many times in the past.

"I guess I just remembered about it because I'm such a huge "Muscle League fangirl"," she said, winking at him. "And because I'm especially a student of the Robin Dynasty."

Kevin narrowed his eyes at her but could not stop the smile that tugged at his lips.

"You think my father's sexy," he said.

"I do," Amy replied, her smirk widening. "It's a pity you didn't look a bit more like him, eh?"

"That's not even funny," Kevin said.

"No, it's quite tragic actually," Amy said, shaking her head and attempting to look solemn, but the hint of a smile still tugging at her features. "I guess there was a mix-up at the hospital and your parents took home Nick Hasler's big brother by mistake. Somewhere in California right now there's a seven-foot, three-hundred pound man wondering why his face feels bare."

Amy tugged at Kevin's mask to indicate her point, and Kevin shook his head, pursing his lips as he refused to laugh at her humour.

"That's uh…" he began, looking down at her hand on his mask. "I'm seven feet two actually."

Kevin looked up at Amy again, watching her pull a face at him.

"What?" she asked.

"And three hundred and forty-two pounds," Kevin added.

"Oh it's like that is it?" Amy asked slyly.

"Well, you know, you started it," Kevin said, trying to sound serious.

"I was only talking about Edward's real brother," Amy replied, shaking her head and tugging on Kevin's mask again.

"Maybe I was taken home to the wrong family," Kevin conceded. "It would make a lot of sense."

"Yes it would," Amy agreed, tugging again at Kevin's mask.

Kevin frowned at her for a moment before yanking his mask back hard, only slightly surprised to find that Amy kept her grip, stumbling into him.

"Kevin…" she muttered, using her free hand to steady herself against his chest.

She slowly tilted her chin upwards, looking directly into Kevin's eyes as he looked down at her. She took a breath, her face twitching into a questioning expression as though she was about to say something.

"Hm?" Kevin mumbled when she remained quiet.

"No, nothing," she said softly.

"Okay."

Kevin felt his mask slip through his fingers, and he started in surprise as it fell to the mat behind him. He had assumed that Amy would keep hold of it after he let go.

"What was–" he began, stopping short as Amy suddenly grabbed a handful of his T-shirt and pulled forwards, bringing his lips to hers.

The contact broke as quickly as it had begun, leaving Kevin blinking down at Amy curiously.

"Wh-what just happened?" he asked her.

"N-nothing," she lied, looking down at her hand, which was still clawed into Kevin's T-shirt.

"Are you sure?" Kevin asked her.

"Yeah," she said, looking up at him again.

"Because it felt like you just did–"

Kevin quickly swooped down on Amy, pressing his lips against hers halfway through his sentence, hoping to catch her off-guard as she had done to him. She tensed a little against him at first, but quickly relaxed, her hand that had been hanging on his mask moving to grab at Kevin's T-shirt by his waist. Kevin cautiously rested both his hands against the small of her back, but as he touched her she pulled her lips from his, her eyebrows flickering into a hint of a frown as she studied him carefully.

"I don't even like you," she whispered.

"Well, I don't really like you either," Kevin frankly replied.

"Then why did you…?" Amy asked.

"You did it first," Kevin pointed out.

"Well I really don't like you. At all."

"Alright then, as long as we both agree on that."

Amy nodded her head and Kevin copied her action.

"So there'll be no more of tha–" Kevin began, stopping short as Amy suddenly pulled him to her again, kissing him a little more forcefully than before.

Kevin pulled her flush against his body, moulding his lips to hers, an odd sensation of peace and freedom washing over him as he relaxed into Amy, allowing her to dictate the direction of their kiss.

"Aw, sick!"

Amy pushed the heels of her hands hard into Kevin's chest, staggering back out of his embrace and turning away from him, covering her mouth with one hand. Kevin looked at her for a moment before turning to Mars, who was standing in the doorway looking even more sickened and disgusted than when he had learned the location of their upcoming bout.

"You two are sick!" he said darkly, pointing a finger at the ring. "And Kevin, in case you forgot, you can't have sex da night before a fight."

"Shut the fuck up Mars!" Kevin snapped, grabbing up his mask and hurling it at Mars.

"Hey!" Mars yelled, ducking out the way, and glaring at the dent Kevin's mask created in the door at his side.

"Mars, you have the worst way of–"

Kevin stopped talking abruptly as he heard a door bang at his side. Turning his head, Kevin saw the fire-exit door rattle back into position, and Amy had vanished.

"I hate you Mars," he said quietly, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

"Oh dat's great!" Mars drawled sarcastically. "We gotta fight together tomorrow for da first time since we was trainin' at da DMP, and you're gonna let some girl mess dat up?"

"We're doing this for your girl!" Kevin shot back, releasing his nose to jab an accusing finger through the air at Mars.

"Hey, didn't you learn nothin' at Da Academy?" Mars shouted.

"I know!" Kevin groaned, shaking his head. "I know, I know! A perfect Chojin never shows emotion!"

"Dat's right," Mars said in a quieter voice, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"And you've never let your emotions effect your performance in the ring…" Kevin muttered.

"Not if I can help it," Mars replied, crouching down to retrieve Kevin's mask.

"It was just…" Kevin began, waving a hand about as he tried to think of the right words to say.

"A "slip of the tongue"?" Mars asked, smirking at Kevin as he mocked Kevin's voice. "Here," he added, tossing Kevin's mask back at him. "Cover ya face up, I can't stand lookin' at it no more."

Kevin caught his mask with a sigh, casting Mars a dry look.

"You're right," he said before pulling his mask back on. "After all, "dere ain't a woman in dis universe worth worryin' about"…"

Mars scowled at Kevin quietly, and beneath his mask, Kevin allowed himself to grin.

""You won't never catch me getting' all worked up over some girl"," he continued. ""Women are only good for one thing, Mask, remember dat"."

Mars rolled his eyes, grumbling out something inaudible.

"Are ya finished?" he eventually asked.

"Only if you are," Kevin replied.

Mars nodded his understanding.

"Let's get outta here," he suggested.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The final round of the Bad Blood Tournament begins, but when Edward makes a special announcement, mass confusion breaks loose and Kiki sees another side of Mars. **Chapter 16 – Edward's Concession**.

**A/N(2):** I've never been to Tokyo Disneyland, I have no idea if the building I reference there can be used as a stadium, but it always seems like the IWF can make anything happen when it comes to finding locations for their matches, so I'm going with this, and taking liberties on the functions of the building. If they are wrong, let's pretend that's because this is set in the future, and the building might actually be like this by then. Or whatever.


	16. Edward's Concession

**A/N:** Couldn't resist the "Gorilla Position" reference. To anyone who doesn't know what it is, it's the area immediately behind the entrance curtain at a wrestling event, named after Gorilla Monsoon (who I don't really remember, he died when I was still pretty youthful, so a bit before my time).

Italian translations in the footnote. Deliberately separate from the main text to leave you all as confused as the characters in the story.

**Recap:** Mars and Kevin learned their match against The Anarchists would be held at Tokyo Disneyland, and Kevin and Amy shared an intimate moment.

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Edward's Concession**

"Mars, what the bloody hell are you doing?" Kevin yelped.

"Playin' da fucker at his own game," Mars replied through a mouthful of food.

"Are you mad?" Kevin growled, smacking the tray of chocolates out of Mars's hand. "Eating junk like that before a fight could make you sick!"

"You don't understand!" Mars yelled back.

Kevin cringed at the sight of Mars's teeth and lips coated in sticky caramel and melted chocolate.

"See, I been workin' out," Mars began, pointing at the weights he had been training with when Kevin had left the room. "And now I'm eatin' some sugar."

Kevin waited for Mars to continue, but instead he just grinned a chocolate-stained grin.

"Explain," Kevin said flatly, planting his hands on his hips.

"Well, da weights make me look pumped," Mars began slowly. "And da sugar makes my veins stand up."

"What a load of bollocks!" Kevin snorted. "Clean yourself up, I came back here to tell you we're on the five-minute warning, we have to get to the Gorilla Position."

"Right," Mars agreed, grabbing a towel and swiping it over his mouth a few times before tossing it aside and whipping off his robe.

Kevin did a double-take at Mars, tilting his head to one side in a silent question.

"I wasn't kiddin' around," Mars said flatly. "It's endgame."

Kevin slowly nodded, taking in Mars's appearance. He had shed his usual pink and red wrestling tights in favour of a pair of black and red shorts. He still wore his trusty head-dress, and he had attached his coat-tails to his belt as always, but his chest was bare, revealing a sizeable tattoo over his left pectoral area.

"I thought you said your body was too beautiful to mar it with tattoos," Kevin said dryly.

"Dis is for my girl," Mars plainly replied, slapping a hand against the black kanji printed there. "It says "girl of light", because she is my light in da dark."

"Keiko," Kevin said with a nod of his head. "How cute. But we're not letting our emotions affect us at all, are we?"

Mars pointed a finger at Kevin, opening his mouth to argue back; but a knock on the door stopped him before he could even begin.

"We're coming, bloody hell!" Kevin moaned, yanking open the door. "Oh…"

Kevin gulped as he found himself face-to-face with Amy.

"My God you look good."

Kevin stiffened as the sound of his own voice echoed around his head. He had really only meant to think it, but somehow the words had come out of his mouth anyway, like some sort of instinct he could not control.

"Th-thank you Kevin," she said awkwardly, her face turning a little pink. "I just… I know you said you don't need luck, and I know that you don't, but I just wanted to come and say… The best of British luck to you, yeah?"

Kevin opened his mouth to answer her, but apparently the same unknown power that had forced words out of his mouth only moments earlier had suddenly robbed him of his voice, as words failed him.

"Hey Seabiscuit," Mars said, pulling the door open wider to step out next to Kevin, revealing that he has also donned his black winged cloak.

"You're really not funny Mars," Amy growled at him.

"Auditions for "Da Sound of Music" ain't in here," Mars replied.

"This is traditional Italian dress," Amy tightly replied. "I wore it for you."

"Oh yeah?" Mars asked, casting a glance at Kevin with a smirk.

"I couldn't wear anything British, because one of your opponents is British," Amy pointed out.

"Hey, if Kev likes 'em dressed like gypsies, dat ain't nothin' to do wid me," Mars said, slapping Kevin on the back hard enough to make him stumble a step closer to Amy.

Amy shook her head at Mars with a small sigh.

"Look, we're all rooting for you out there," she said with finality. "Good luck Mars."

"Don't need it," Mars said confidently.

"Good luck Kevin," Amy said, turning to Kevin.

Kevin lifted a hand in the air between them, hesitating as he began to wonder just what he had intended to reach out for. Amy smiled, touching a hand to the side of his mask.

"I know you can do this," she said quietly.

There was a short, silent pause between them before Amy stepped forwards and kissed Kevin's mask. Kevin desperately made to kiss back, grunting in frustration as he lips met steel.

"Good luck," she said again, her hand sliding from his mask.

"Amy wait!" Kevin said hurriedly, fumbling at his chin for the latch that opened his mask.

Amy watched him quietly for a moment before smiling gently at him and holding up one hand. She turned and hurried off down the corridor, leaving Kevin struggling in vain. As she disappeared from his sight Mars flicked a finger at Kevin's mask and reached out his other hand, catching the mask as it fell from Kevin's head. Kevin turned to glare at Mars, who grinned back at him mischievously.

"You utter turd, Mars!" Kevin cursed, snatching his mask back and roughly pulling it back on.

"Dat anger is good," Mars said. "You can take it out on Eddie's face, huh?"

Kevin grumbled out some choice curse words before marching down the corridor in the opposite direction Amy had taken, heading towards the entranceway to the ring. Kevin did not slow down until he spotted three particularly large figures hanging around the Gorilla Position ahead of him, their shapes sickeningly familiar.

"Hey!" Mars said cheerfully as he caught up with Kevin and together they joined the others gathered by the curtains. "We don't need no corner-man like dose other guys."

"Glad to hear you're as confident as ever, Mars," Buffaloman said, patting Mars on the shoulder.

"Kevin," Robin said to Kevin.

"Father," Kevin said tightly, nodding his head at his father. "Warsman," he added, nodding at his father's friend.

"Give them hell, Kevin," Warsman said.

"I intend to," Kevin confirmed.

Kevin looked up as music sounded up beyond the curtain. He turned to Mars questioningly, at which Mars clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"I hope ya don't mind, Kev," he said. "It's Mars."

"God of War, appropriate," Kevin plainly replied. "Makes a pleasant changes from the usual crap you enter to."

"Pfft!" Mars scoffed. "I always use classical music!"

Kevin walked up to the curtain, waiting for Mars to join him.

"You ready?" Mars asked as he stepped up alongside him.

"I'm always ready," Kevin replied.

"Hey?"

Kevin turned to Mars at the questioning tone he used, finding Mars standing with a hand out-stretched expectantly.

"Fuck off Mars," Kevin said flatly, slapping aside the curtain and walking out to a deafening cheer of fans and a blinding wave of mass flash photography.

"Huh?" Mars echoed, taking a few extra long strides to bring himself level with Kevin as they headed towards the ring.

"When this all over, I'm going to get you back for the three times you have interfered in my…" Kevin began, struggling to find words to describe just what it was that happened between himself and Amy.

"Are you still mad because I stopped you makin' out wid Ponyboy?"

"You're an arse."

"You too, buddy."

Kevin groaned in exasperation as Mars lifted his head higher in the air, occasionally altering his expression a little to pose briefly for specific photographers. As Mars made love to the media, Kevin carefully looked about himself, trying to do so without moving his head too much so as not to alert any attention to his actions. The setting for the bout was inside the Showbase in Tomorrowland of Tokyo Disneyland, which was unusual in itself: but something felt distinctly wrong to Kevin. Another glance at Mars told him that he was alone in his suspicions, as Mars was still more interested in puffing himself up for the cameras, an aspect of his personality that always sharply reminded Kevin of Mars's avian nature.

Kevin looked about himself again, carefully noting as much as he could about what he saw. There were a lot of seats in the building, and the retractable roof had been withdrawn, making it seem as though the walls themselves were built of bodies; but despite this, Kevin did not see one thing he had become grudgingly accustomed to seeing at IWF events: the three girls or any of the wrestlers from the IWF's active roster. Kevin did spot some of the Legend Justice Chojins, but obviously the new generation were all still recuperating, as none of them appeared to be in attendance.

"The girls…" Kevin muttered aloud.

"Huh?" Mars grunted, turning to Kevin as they reached the ringside area.

"Where's Kiki?" Kevin asked.

Mars's face began to twist in anger, and spotting his irritation, Kevin hurriedly corrected himself.

"All the other girls were brought out to watch us fight," he quickly explained. "But I don't see Kiki out here."

Mars turned slowly around on the spot, searching the entire arena for any sign of his girlfriend.

"If dey bring her out here in a cage, I'm sendin' dem both outta here in body-bags," Mars growled when he failed to locate Kiki.

"Something isn't right," Kevin said, shaking his head. "I just know it."

Kevin and Mars both made their way into the ring as their music faded, finding Ikeman awaiting them, looking a little nervous. The cheers of the crowd faded into the air and an eerie silence descended upon the arena.

"What are ya waitin' for?" Mars hissed at Ikeman. "Call 'em out already!"

Ikeman lifted the microphone to his mouth slowly, his eyes fixed on Mars as he spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the Muscle League," he said.

"What?" Mars and Kevin said in unison.

The Hercules Factory graduation anthem began to play, and Kevin and Mars turned to the entrance ramp, finding their six fellow Justice Chojins making their way towards the ring.

"What the hell is going on?" Kevin asked Mars.

"I dunno," Mars began, rounding on Ikeman. "Hey blockhead, what gives?"

"I'm just announcing what I was told to!" Ikeman hurriedly explained, waving a set of cards in front of Mars's face.

Mars snatched the cards from him, flicking through them before flinging them into the air, scattering them around the ring. Ikeman hurriedly chased after each card, gathering them back up and into order.

"What's happening now?" Kevin asked Mars.

"It says "enter Kevin Mask and Mars", den "enter da Muscle League", den "enter da Anarchists"," Mars replied. "It don't say nothin' about which Anarchists."

Kevin quickly eyed over his fallen comrades, their situation looking rather poor.

"A free for all?" Kevin asked.

"Nah," Mars replied, shaking his head. "But whatever it is, I hate it already."

Kevin nodded, stepping back a little as Meat stepped into the ring, followed by Kid Muscle and the remainder of the Muscle League. Wally Tusket was still stitched and bandaged over most of his upper body, Terry Kenyon had a neck brace on, both legs heavily bandaged and was on crutches, Jaeger was stitched and bandaged over most of his body, his face almost mummified after suffering the XYZ Crash, and Dik Dik Van Dik was in a body brace and struggling to walk on crutches. Kid Muscle and Checkmate were the healthiest of the group, but their wounds were the freshest, and both were visibly sporting stitches and bruising.

"What's goin' on here?" Meat whispered to Mars and Kevin.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Kevin flatly replied.

"Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome The Anarchists," Ikeman announced as the music died down to be replaced by another tune.

Mars scrunched up his nose as though he had just caught the scent of something deeply unpleasant, turning to Kevin.

"What is dat?" he asked.

"The music?" Kevin asked. "I don't know."

Mars rolled his eyes at Kevin and turned his attention back to the entranceway, his face growing dark as Edward appeared, followed by the rest of his group, who followed behind him in a V-formation. Kevin quickly glanced over The Anarchists, angered to find that even though they had done nothing to hide themselves, they were still relatively healthy-looking, and really made the Muscle League look bad. Road Rage had a few bandages over his chest and one hip, Hydrazoa was bandaged over where he had been cut, but the others seemed to have escaped with only minor scratches and bruising.

Edward was the first to enter the ring, confidently grabbing the microphone from Ikeman as his men all stepped in behind him.

"Good afternoon Muscle League," he said into the microphone. "I've been thinking about what has happened this past week, and I've decided that maybe I've been a little unfair."

"A little?" Meat growled out.

"I was expecting a bit more resistance from the famous Muscle League," Edward continued, ignoring Meat's remark. "And I feel disappointed that my men haven't had the chance to really enjoy a challenging fight."

"Where is this going?" Kevin asked blandly.

Edward paused, staring silently at Kevin for a moment before turning fully towards him and taking a few steps closer to him.

"So I'm going to do you all a big favour," he said, moving the microphone closer to his masked face, his voice booming out louder throughout the arena despite the fact that he had lowered his tone. "I'm going to give you all a chance of a rematch."

"We don't need no stinkin' rematch," Mars quickly interjected. "Because I'ma beat your ass into da ground right here, right now."

Edward turned to Mars, tilting his head a little as though he had not understood Mars's words.

"Remember scarface," he said slowly, his voice altering into one that made Mars's stomach curdle. "Patience is a virtue."

Mars narrowed his eyes, swallowing back the urge to vomit. Edward had always been frighteningly skilled at mocking Doomsmane's voice, even as a child he had managed to use his talent to torment Mars.

"You see I was talking to my girls last night," Edward said, his voice returning to normal. "And although they never asked for it, I decided it would only be fair on my girls to allow the Muscle League one more chance to prove themselves worthy of the my girls' time and–"

"They ain't "your" girls," Terry growled in a low voice, scowling menacingly at Edward.

"I beg to differ," Edward said lightly. "But after speaking with my girls," he continued, placing particular emphasis on the word "my". "I have decided to revamp the Bad Blood Tournament – oh don't look so worried Kid Muscle, this a move in your favour, I'm sure."

Kid made a small whimpering noise in the back of his throat, taking a wary step back.

"We heard that people feel that we "ganged up" against the Muscle League in the first two rounds," Edward continued. "And because I am a fair man, I have decided to let the Muscle League return the favour: we propose a four-way elimination, last-man-standing match, for Trixie and Jacqueline. Wally Tusket, Terry Kenyon, Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger, against Wolfang, Master DJ, Road Rage and Hydrazoa."

Kevin and Mars looked back at Wally, Terry, Dik Dik and Jaeger, all of whom looked a little worse for the wear.

"When?" Kevin asked, turning back to his brother.

Even though he was wearing his mask, Kevin was certain Edward was smirking smugly to himself before he answered.

"How long do you need?" he asked sweetly.

"We'll fight y'all right now!" Terry said forcefully.

"Don't be stupid!" Kevin hissed at him.

"A week," Meat said, clenching a fist in the air.

Kevin turned to Meat, who looked up at him with an expression of unwavering confidence.

"A week," Kevin agreed, turning to Edward.

"The ninth of November?" Edward asked.

Kevin nodded.

"Alright then," Edward said with a nod of his head. "Then on the eleventh, we propose a direct rematch: Checkmate and Kid Muscle against Death Angel and Sprite."

"Remembrance Day?" Kevin asked quietly.

"What's "Rembrandt's Day"?" Kid wailed.

"Nothing," Kevin hurriedly replied, not wishing to give Kid another reason to panic needlessly. "It's just a holiday in some countries, nothing important."

"Not like Halloween?" Kid asked cautiously, eying over Death Angel.

"It's a day to commemorate the dead–" Edward began.

"The eleventh is fine," Kevin cut him off. "And today Mars and I will defeat you and your cat," he finished, pointing at Fargo.

Edward slowly shook his head.

"No," he said.

"What?" Mars echoed, taking a step closer to Edward.

"I want a fight that means something," Edward replied. "No lame excuses about time to prepare or unfair matches. I'll fight you when I'm good and ready. And that will be after the four-way and after the rematch. We will continue this on the thirteenth."

Kevin turned to Mars sharply as an inhuman growl resounded through Mars's body, his lips curling to reveal his fangs.

"Dat ain't gonna work for me," Mars growled out quietly. "You fight me right here, right now, like a man, or you let my girl go."

"Hmm…" Edward hummed, rocking on his heels and looking up at the sky as though he were actually giving Mars's words fair consideration. "No and no," he eventually concluded, looking directly at Mars with his answer.

"You listen here ya dirty little rat," Mars said quietly stalking towards Edward. "You took my girl, you made us wait a week before we could try to get da girls back, and you made me wait until dead last for my turn. Dere ain't no way in hell I'ma wait even one more hour to get my girl back, so don't be comin' out here and tryin' dis shit about waitin' another week wid me, capisce?"

Mars stopped directly in front of Edward, who straightened his back, showing those around him that he had out-grown Mars in height.

"It's you, me, Kevin and da cat," Mars snarled, leaning closer to Edward. "Right here, right now. It's endgame."

Edward chuckled at Mars's words, turning his head to one side until he had recovered.

"You don't get to call endgame, scarface," Edward said quietly, tapping the microphone against Mars's chest, sending a dull thudding sound throughout the arena. "You forget: only he who has nothing to lose can call endgame. You, scarface, are not that man."

Mars hesitated, his eyes running over the length of Edward's body, a smirk slowly appearing on his face as he met Edward's eyes again.

"Veni," he said, grabbing the microphone from Edward. "Vidi," he continued, flinging the microphone out of the ring. "Vici."

Mars grabbed handfuls of Edward's DMP T-shirt, clenching his fists around the material until it began to tear with the strain.

"Siete bei quando siete arrabbiati,"(1) Edward said in a voice so low only Mars clearly heard his words.

Mars's expression softened a little, his eyes flicking about Edward's masked visage for a moment before his lips peeled back, exposing his teeth like a wild animal.

"Voi bastardo sporco!" he roared. "Li ucciderò!"(2)

Mars hoisted Edward off his feet by his shirt and threw him across the ring, smacking a hand back at Sprite, who ran forwards to intervene, slapping back the smaller Chojin with ease. Mars literally pounced at Edward's fallen form, but as he flew towards Edward, something blind-sided him, sending him crashing to the mat far from where Edward lay. Turning his head, Mars found Wolfang pinning him to the mat under his massive paws, his jaws clamped down hard on Mars's arm.

Terry Kenyon skipped over to where they had landed, clattering one of his crutches down against Wolfang's back, causing him to loosen his grip a little. Terry made to hit him again, but Master DJ speared him to the mat and the two began attacking each other on the ground. Wally grabbed Wolfang's tail and began to pull, and Wolfang finally released Mars, spinning around and trying to bite at Wally.

Free at last, Mars shook off his arm, a quick glance telling him that his arm-guard had absorbed most of the bite. Mars wasted no time then in charging across the ring at Edward, who had just stood up again. Seeing Mars heading his way, Edward ducked one shoulder down and brought his arm up against the underside of Mars's body, throwing him over his shoulder and over the top rope of the ring. Mars quickly grabbed the top rope on both hands, the momentum of Edward's throw sending his body over the top, leaving him hanging from the top rope, his back turned to the ring. Tightening his grip, Mars pulled himself up a little before swinging his legs up over his head and back over the top rope, his feet kicking Edward in the head on their way back down to the mat.

"Hey come on boys, this ain't gonna help the situation!" Meat yelled, clapping his hands loudly.

But the others ignored him, all sixteen Chojins diving at each other and commencing a ruthless, lawless brawl that virtually filled the ring. The audience began to cheer appreciatively at what they saw, but the IWF officials did not agree that the events in the ring were constructive, as groups of referees, the Legends in attendance and various others began running towards the ring to attempt to break up the ensuing melee. Broken Junior, Terryman, Robin Mask, Warsman, King Muscle, Buffaloman, Ikeman and Vance McMadd, along with a gang of IWF officials, all leapt into the ring, packing it to the ropes with bodies. A few minutes of confused yelling and struggling followed where, apart from the occasional splat of blood landing outside the boundaries of the ring and the occasional scream of pain, nothing of any significance appeared to happen.

Then Mars leapt up from the ring, carrying another body by the throat, a positively wild look on his face, his golden eyes ablaze, his teeth bared. As he reached the apex of his ascent, Mars swung an arm forwards, thrusting the limp body he carried towards the ringside area. The fans seated below his aim all screamed and fled from their seats, barely escaping harm as the railings on one side of the ring collapsed with a mighty clatter from the force of the collision Mars's target made. Mars yelled out something, his words blurred by the air around him and the force of his steep and rapid descent; but nobody watching needed to have heard his words to know what was about to happen.

The others inside the ring quietened, watching as Mars's sharpened coat-tails took aim at the body lying smashed against the railings. Although the image of Mars preparing to skewer the unconscious Sprite to the ground in what would be a fatal blow was shocking, what followed next left everyone in the arena positively stunned.

As Mars dropped downwards, Edward finally caught sight of what was happening and flung himself between the ropes, throwing himself between Mars and Sprite in what looked to be an act of self-sacrifice, his chest facing Mars's Swallow Tail.

Before Mars's attack hit either of his enemies, Kevin Mask flew out of the ring, grabbing Mars around the waist and knocking him off course, the two of them landing further into the audience, shattering the seats around them.

Everyone in the audience and inside the ring stood in silence, watching the four Chojins at the centre of the action. Edward was the first to recover, looking down at his chest in a moment of wonderment when he found himself unharmed. He then turned and made to crouch down to Sprite's aid, only to stop short as an irate Mars shot up a few rows behind him, the crazed look on his face punctuated by the fresh gashes he had earned from crashing through the seating.

"Now it's endgame," Edward said darkly.

Mars lifted a leg, stamping down onto a seat in the row in front of him, crushing is beneath his boot. He lifted his other leg, aiming at a chair in the next row, but Kevin stood up abruptly at his side, distracting him momentarily. Mars turned to Kevin, glaring at him in an accusing manner, his eyes asking his unspoken question.

"You won't achieve anything playing games with him," Kevin answered quietly.

"I ain't playin' games," Mars growled, turning back to Edward. "I'm makin' a point. And I ain't stoppin' until your little friend is finished."

Mars crushed another chair, bringing himself one step closer to Edward and Sprite.

"Don't do this," Kevin urged him, grabbing his arm. "Not like this. If we wait and confront him properly in an official match, he can't argue the point."

"I don't trust you no more," Mars snarled, swinging back his arm violently, knocking off Kevin's hold. "I saw what you did."

"I tried to stop all hell breaking loose!" Kevin argued.

"No, you jumped in to protect your brother," Mars retaliated, jabbing a finger against Kevin's armoured chest.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kevin spat.

"Why not?" Mars asked, taking a step closer to Kevin. "You've done it before…"

"This is stupid," Kevin began. "Fighting amongst ourselves like–"

"You're stupid."

"Mars, you're not helping–"

"You're supposed to be da leader of da Muscle League, asshole!"

Mars shoved both hands into Kevin's shoulders, sending him stumbling back, where he collided with more broken seats, staggering to remain footed.

"If you can't step up and fight your brother, I'm takin' over leadership!" Mars announced.

"Are you hell," Kevin scoffed, choking out a sarcastic laugh.

"What, you don't think I could make a better job of leadin' dese morons to victory?" Mars challenged him, clenching his fists threateningly at his sides.

"You haven't exactly set a good example so far, have you?" Kevin shot back.

"You son of a bitch, Mask!"

Mars grabbed up the backing of a broken chair, swinging it around at Kevin's head. Kevin quickly blocked the attack with his arms, but Mars spun the seat around and aimed the edge at Kevin's side, hitting it directly across the still visible scar Kevin had from their confrontation in the Chojin Crown final.

"Mars, you fool!" Kevin groaned, grabbing at the seat to stop Mars from attacking again. "Don't point out our weaknesses to our enemies!"

"Your biggest weakness is da fact dat you still wanna defend your brother!" Mars yelled back at him. "All dis "for honour" crap you do is killin' us out here!"

Kevin hesitated, a flash passing over his yellow eyes as he slowly looked up at Mars.

"You gotta start fightin' like ya did when we was in da DMP!" Mars added.

"Alright then," Kevin said darkly. "How about this?"

Kevin kicked upwards forcefully, his foot impacting hard enough between Mars's legs to make him jump on the spot. Mars released his hold of the broken chair, and Kevin immediately smacked him over the shoulder with it. Mars grabbed his arms around Kevin and pushed forwards, sending them both crashing through the seats to the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with these kids?" Buffaloman groaned, stepping through the ring ropes.

The other Muscle Leaguers and IWF officials followed after him, hurrying over to where Mars and Kevin were fighting, resulting in nothing more than a shift of the chaos that had been unfolding inside the ring to the stands. Eventually, Warsman managed to wrestle Kevin away from the group and Jaeger managed to drag Mars away in the opposite direction.

"Geddoffa me!" Mars roared, thrashing around in Jaeger's hold.

"Nein!" Jaeger said sternly, locking his hands together at Mars's waist and pushing himself against Mars's back to secure his hold.

"Lemme go, or I'ma send you right back to da hospital," Mars growled threateningly.

"Nein Mars, ve can't fight among ourselves!" Jaeger argued. "Zhat vay ve let ze Anarchists defeat us!"

"You already let da Anarchists defeat you!" Mars yelled, twisting in an attempt to break Jeager's hold. "I am so sick o' dis shit! I'm sick of da Muscle League, and all you other damn goody-two-shoes dat hang around us! Dis ain't no league o' heroes, it's a damn gatherin' of cowards and idiots! When I was in da DMP, nobody messed wid me! Now you bastards have turned me into a damn nancy boy like da rest of yous! I'm sick an' tired o' people talkin' shit about how I've gone soft! I ain't soft, I'm a nasty bastard, and I'd kill any one of yous morons if I had to! I don't care about nobody or nothin'. Maybe yous don't remember, but a perfect Chojin never loses and never lets his emotions stop him from fightin'. Yous assholes only care about your stupid little girlfriends and your stupid little managers! You're on your own in da ring, ain't noboby gonna help you win wid any o' dat "love" or "power of friendship" shit! We're goin' down here because da DMP ain't lettin' meaningless crap distract 'em from what's important!"

"Meaningless crap?" Edward's voice asked.

Mars frowned, looking upwards as Edward's amplified voice echoed around the stadium. He glanced around in an attempt to locate Edward, but was unable to find Edward or any of the other Devil Chojins from his group.

"Yeah, dat's right," Mars confirmed confidently. "Meaningless crap!"

"Like love and friendship?" Edward asked.

"It don't mean shit to me!" Mars roared, renewing his efforts and finally throwing Jaeger off of himself.

Mars turned around, finding an image of a group of people displayed on the large screen at the back of the arena. At first Mars's eyes locked onto Edward who was holding a microphone in one hand and appeared to be standing somewhere backstage. Either side of him, some of his fellow Anarchists were just visible on screen.

"They say the heart won't lie," Edward said slowly. "And the DMP always taught us that the blackened heart of a Devil Chojin can never be purified."

"Dat's right, I ain't no clean-livin', nice-guy like dese other assholes out here," Mars quietly replied, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the Muscle League.

"You're still evil," Edward said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah dat's right," Mars replied with a smirk. "And I'm comin' after you, Eddie."

"So there you go, that's the true Mars," Edward said, turning his head to one side.

Mars folded his arms, frowning curiously as the camera filming Edward panned back, gradually revealing the remaining Anarchists and four women.

"Kiki?" Mars muttered, his face dropping as Kiki came into view at the end of the row of people.

She was still wearing her bridesmaid's dress from Kid Muscle's wedding, but she looked far less composed than she had on Kid's wedding day. Her hair was a tangled mess and her clothing had a few tears and dirty marks; but it was her face that concerned Mars the most. She was staring at him with wide eyes, her skin pale, the faint glisten of uncried tears lingering around her eyelids.

It was the same look she had given him the day she had learned his true identity in his replacement match against Kid Muscle.

"Since this girl is nothing more than meaningless crap to you anyway Mars, do you still intend to honour our agreement of a tag team match?" Edward asked.

Mars's mouth opened a little, but no sound came out.

"I do hope that's a yes," Edward said with a small sigh. "Because even though you may think that Kiki is a worthless distraction to your glorious career, I would like the chance to punish you in the ring for mistreating such a wonderful lady as Miss Nonaka."

A long silence passed over the entire arena, during which the camera filming Edward's group slowly zoomed back in to show just Edward again.

"We look forward to seeing you all again in one weeks' time," he said cheerfully, before the screen turned black.

Mars watched the blank screen for a few seconds before slowly lowering his head to look at the ground.

"Dang, he's good!" Terry whispered to the others.

Kevin sighed in exasperation as Terry's words drew Mars's attention. Mars half turned towards the others, staring at them blankly.

"Let me go," Kevin said, his voice quiet but firm as he struggled against Warsman.

"Not now Kevin," Warsman warned.

"Damn it, I said let me go!" Kevin insisted, throwing Warsman off.

Kevin started to march past the others, approaching Mars.

"Mars?" he said. "Mars, listen to me, this isn't as bad as it looks!"

Mars moved his eyes to Kevin, watching him until he had almost reached where Mars stood before replying.

"Finito,"(3) Mars said, shaking his head.

"Mars!" Kevin yelled desperately as Mars turned his back on Kevin and ran off. "Mars, come back!"

Kevin started to run after Mars but tripped and fell to the ground as something caught his ankle. Looking over his shoulder angrily, Kevin found Jaeger clutching at his ankle.

"What the hell was that for?" Kevin demanded.

"He might have hurt you," Jaeger plainly replied.

"We can't let the DMP defeat us with silly mind games!" Kevin insisted, getting to his feet.

Kevin felt a little relieved to see that, as he stood, Kid Muscle and Meat were running in the same direction Mars had taken, apparently trying to follow after him.

"Come with me," Kevin suggested, holding a hand out to Jaeger. "You're his friend too, it might help if you come along."

Jaeger grabbed onto Kevin's hand and allowed him to help him up. Together they ran off, trying to keep sight of Meat, who was behind Kid and still within their sights. Jaeger was, due to his injuries, a little slower than Kevin could bear, and so as they caught up with Meat, Kevin broke into a sprint, running as fast and as hard as he could until he caught sight of Kid Muscle standing at the gates of Tomorrowland. Kevin came to a stop at Kid's side, turning to find Amy standing next to Kid, one hand clutched at her chest as she tried to regulate her breathing.

"What happened?" Kevin asked, looking about for Mars. "Where did he go?"

"He just left," Kid said flatly.

"He…" Amy began breathlessly. "He… He took your bike!"

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"I tried to stop him…" Amy panted. "But he was too fast… Sorry Kevin…"

Kevin sighed, shaking his head.

"Never mind," he grumbled. "He'll come back when he's ready to."

"Did you guys see Roxanne?" Kid asked quietly.

"What?" Kevin muttered, turning to Kid.

"Roxanne, she was back there with The Anarchists," Kid said slowly. "She looked really pretty. But she looked different, too. Do you guys think the girls have joined the DMP?"

"Girls can't join the DMP!" Kevin sneered.

"That's not what he means, Kevin!" Amy intercepted. "And no Kid, I'm sure the girls haven't chosen to side with the DMP. Why would they?"

Kid shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, where's Mars?" Meat asked as he and Jaeger joined them.

"He got away," Amy answered him.

"I want to go home," Kid said softly. "I feel sick."

Kevin watched worriedly as the despondent Kid turned around and walked mechanically back in the direction they had come, where he was eventually followed by Meat and Jaeger. Kevin watched them until they disappeared from his sight before turning to Amy, who offered him a small smile.

"Looks like you're the only one left who can keep it together," she said solemnly. "Good job you're their leader, right?"

Kevin turned away from her, still reeling in disbelief that Edward's petty mind games had managed to destroy the entire Muscle League.

"With Edward's concession to let them have their rematches, we just have to make sure we win this time around," he said with finality.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kevin and Amy share some more awkwardness, Kiki talks to Edward about her true feelings, and Kevin finds Mars in a dubious place where they discuss Mars's future. **Chapter 17 – The Heart Won't Lie**. 

(1) Edwards says "you are beautiful when you are angry"

(2) Mars says "you dirty bastard, I will kill you"

(3) Mars says "it's over"

**A/N(2):** Hopefully now it's clear why I had the let The Anarchists be so successful in this tournament. Updates will be a lot slower from now on, probably only once a week (not much time to write slow updates).


	17. The Heart Won't Lie

**A/N:** This could easily have been divided into 3 chapters, but I wanted to get all this out in one go, so here goes…

**Recap:** The fourth round of the Bad Blood Tournament was cancelled as Edward proposed restarting the tournament with a four-way fight, and Edward's mind games finally got to Mars and Kiki.

* * *

**Chapter 17 – The Heart Won't Lie**

Kevin slowly opened his eyes, peering over his sheets at the source of the noise that had awoken him. Beyond the sitting room he was laid in, Amy was dancing around her kitchenette, a stereo on the counter between them playing some irksome, chirpy music Amy was humming along to. Kevin threw off his sheets and stood up, leaning over to switch the stereo off. Amy immediately went quiet and turned on the spot, staring at him questioningly.

"That was just crap," Kevin explained, pulling out a stool at the breakfast bar and sitting onto it, facing Amy.

"I like Porno Graffitti," she flatly replied.

"Excuse me?" Kevin echoed, eying her incredulously. "Isn't it a little early in the morning for talk of erotica?"

Amy growled out a frustrated sigh.

"Porno Graffitti is the name of the group!" she said, reaching for the stereo.

"No," Kevin said, smacking the stereo to the floor, making sure that it landed on his side of the counter.

"I hope that isn't broken, it's not even mine!" Amy snapped, pushing her fists into her hips and scowling at Kevin moodily.

Kevin waved a hand at her dismissively.

"Put your mask on, Kevin."

Kevin lifted his head, frowning at Amy, finding that she had turned her back on him.

"Why?" he asked.

"You look awful," Amy bluntly replied.

"So do you, but you never wear a mask," Kevin grumbled.

"I don't need to hide anything about myself," Amy said confidently. "I'm not insecure about what I am."

"The mask is a family tradition," Kevin pointed out.

"You hate your family," Amy argued back.

"That doesn't mean I have no respect for tradition!"

"But it's your family's tradition, not yours."

"It is my tradition, I've worn it all my life!"

"Here, eat this and shut the hell up!"

Amy slid a plate across the counter to Kevin.

"It's worse than being married, living with you!" she grumbled. "First thing you do when you wake up is piss me off!"

"You started it with your crappy music!" Kevin grumbled back. "And what is this anyway?" Kevin added, pointing at the yellow square on his plate.

"It's a compromise, because I know how you "don't like fancy nonsense"," Amy replied. "It's tamagoyaki, which is basically just an omelette."

Kevin sniffed cautiously at the food before deeming it safe enough to commence eating. As he began to eat, he tried to keep his head down and chew slowly, because the meal was just like the food Amy had made at Kid Muscle's wedding; positively divine. But Kevin was not about to admit to her that he liked her food. It was not in his nature to like food at all, least of all the extravagant kind created by a woman he refused to like.

Halfway through his food, Kevin casually plucked a tissue from the box of tissues Amy kept on the edge of the counter, blowing his nose into it. He heard Amy mutter something, and looked up in time to see her roll her eyes and clench her fists in the air.

"Why do you always have a cold?" she growled as she caught him watching her.

"I don't have a cold," Kevin flatly replied, dropping his tissue onto her counter and causing her to squeak in anger.

"You're always blowing your nose, and you always dump your soggy tissues in the most unhygienic of places!" Amy argued, pointing an accusing finger at his used tissue.

"It's not a cold, it's an allergy," Kevin said quietly, before continuing to eat.

"An allergy?" Amy echoed. "You're a superhuman, what in the world are you allergic to?"

"Flowers," Kevin flatly replied, pointing a finger at the vase of fresh flowers displayed on the sitting room windowsill.

"You're allergic to flowers?" Amy asked.

"I had Mars throw them out the window twice, but you kept bringing in fresh ones," Kevin added.

"Mars threw the flowers out the window?" Amy echoed. "I asked you both about that, and you both denied it!"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders indifferently.

"When is Mars coming back?" Amy asked carefully.

"Why, do you miss him?" Kevin asked, meeting her eyes with his question.

"He acts as a nice buffer from you," Amy frankly replied. "And the only reason I let you stay here was because Mars couldn't afford a hotel, and you wanted to stay in the same place as him. So if he isn't here, you don't really need to be either."

"Are you telling me I have to get out?"

"Well, why are you still here? You said yourself you preferred the hotel."

Kevin finished off his breakfast, Amy's words echoing around his head. He did not answer her question, but mainly because he did not know the answer himself.

"I mean, you know…" Amy said slowly, turning her head to one side to avoid looking directly at Kevin. "It's kinda weird being alone with you in my own apartment."

Kevin began to smile as a memory of Mars in their DMP days suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Yes," he said slowly. "It's just you and me, alone together in here. So what were your other two wishes?"

Amy turned sharply to look directly at Kevin, looking worried and almost a little afraid.

"Wh-what?" she asked quietly.

"Are you free tonight?" Kevin asked her slyly. "Or is it going to cost me?"

"Hey!" Amy cried indignantly. "That's not even funny!"

Kevin plucked up a small packet of peanuts from a bowl in the middle of the counter, holding it up in front of his face.

"Would you like to fondle my nut-sack?" he asked.

Amy snorted, clapping a hand over her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter.

"Still think you miss Mars?" he asked, tossing the peanuts back into the bowl.

"He never actually used those lines on anyone though?" Amy asked slowly, walking up to the counter to stand directly across from Kevin.

"All the time," Kevin replied.

"And they worked?"

"Usually."

"Probably just because he's good looking though."

"Oh I see. You think Mars is good looking?"

"He's not my type, but I can see the appeal."

"No, I forgot, you prefer Sir Robin Mask."

"I do."

"You know, I actually inherited the estate from my father. When I first got there, I found a little social security book, all stamped up by the Post Office from when the old man had been out collecting his pension."

"Oh meow! Kevin, that's brutal!"

Amy shook her head in disbelief, but Kevin slowly nodded.

"He's that age you know," he said. "He's got one of those girdles to hide the spread of his–"

"Kevin, stop it! You're just angry because Mars can pick up girls with the crappiest lines ever, but they don't work for you."

Kevin quirked an eyebrow at Amy, but she appeared to have recovered from her initial shock at his words.

"Do you work for UPS?" he asked. "Because I could have sworn you were checking out my package."

Amy burst out laughing, doubling over shamelessly.

"That is terrible Kevin!" she said, walking around the counter to sit into the stool next to him. "Come on, what else have you got?"

Kevin eyed her over, leaning back a little.

"No, come on, this is fun!" she insisted. "Tell me more!"

"Okay…" Kevin said slowly. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a dirty mind like mine?"

Amy laughed again.

"Mars would totally get away with saying things like that, but with you, it's just funny!" she said.

"I must be hunting for treasure, because I'm digging your chest," Kevin added.

"Oh no!" Amy laughed. "That's so bad!"

"When you were born, did your mother leave a map? Because I'm getting lost in your eyes right now."

"Hey, wasn't that in a really bad film?"

"I may not be Fred Flintstone, but I could make your bed rock."

"Okay, I think that's enough!"

Amy stood up, pushing her stool back in and shaking her head at Kevin.

"You're disgusting, you and Mars absolutely deserve each other as friends," she concluded.

Kevin stood up in front of her, trying to contain a smile.

"Have you ever kissed a bunny between the ears?" he asked carefully.

"Have I what?" Amy echoed.

"Would you like to?" Kevin asked, pulling his jean pockets inside-out.

Amy straightened her back, her expression suddenly shifting into one that made Kevin a little uneasy.

"Would you like to go halves on a bastard?" she asked sweetly.

Kevin hesitated, her immediate meaning taking longer than it should have to become apparent in his mind. Amy smiled as she caught the flickers of understanding passing over Kevin's features, stepping closer to him and gathering a handful of his T-shirt, pulling him closer to her.

"If I told you that you have a fantastic body, would you hold it against me?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Kevin answered dumbly. "I mean no. No I mean yes! No…"

Amy laughed, releasing Kevin's T-shirt and taking a step back from him.

"Men think pick up lines are so great, but it's not so great when the girls turn the tables, is it Kevin?" she asked, smiling at him. "Why don't you make yourself useful and go find Mars."

Kevin caught his coat as Amy threw it at him, standing where she had left him, staring at the spot she had been standing in until she threw his mask at him and he was forced to catch it from one side.

"What are you waiting for?" Amy asked him. "Get to it!"

Kevin pulled on his mask and his coat, stepped into his boots and walked out of Amy's apartment. He walked down to the front door in a daze, turning and walking into the restaurant immediately below Amy's apartment. Kevin went straight to the bar, where he found a young man drying off glasses.

"Water," he said flatly. "With ice. In a pint glass."

The man behind the bar nodded, filling a large glass with water and dropping several ice cubes into it. He came back to the bar, placing the glass down in front of Kevin.

"Thank you," Kevin said quietly, picking up the glass.

"Hey!" the man yelped, watching in horror as Kevin poured some of the water down the front of his T-shirt, some down the back of his neck and the rest over his masked head.

Kevin placed the glass back on the bar and left the restaurant again, the wind outside catching his clothing and magnifying the effects of the cold water; finally, he was ready to start his search for Mars with a little of his dignity in tact.

* * *

Without his motorbike, and with no desire to borrow Amy's idiotic little scooter, Kevin did not reach the old DMP hideout until late evening. The sun was low in the sky and it was particularly cold; but Kevin soon became glad of the low temperature as he reached the outskirts of the desecrated headquarters of Devil Chojins, because apparently nobody had bothered to do anything about the fallout of the massive explosions that had destroyed the stone caverns or its occupants. Warped and rotted remains of former allies lay all around Kevin as he picked his way up the mountain. Luckily enough time had passed that the bodies were reasonably decomposed, but some were still likely to smell nauseating in warm weather. 

Kevin stopped as he found what looked like a crocodile's head resting beneath an enormous boulder. The body of the victim had been recently disturbed from where it had obviously fallen, crushed to death beneath the gigantic chunk of rock. Kevin took this as sign that he was close to finding Mars; Mars never had quite let go of the grudge he held against Doomsmane for scarring his face.

On instinct, Kevin was heading for the section of cave in the hillside that Mars had used as his own private quarters during their DMP days. It seemed a reasonable place for Mars to run to, it was where Mars had gone after losing to Kid Muscle in the Generation Ex Tournament and after losing to Kevin in the Chojin Crown final. Kevin silently noted that Mars's behaviour did suggest that Edward's theory about Mars still having evil intentions might be true, as Mars always returned to the DMP base whenever something big happened to him. But Kevin was sensible enough to know that Edward's words were nothing more than a game, and he pressed on, finally reaching the mouth of the cave.

Kevin paused, finding the cave in darkness. He had expected to find Mars inside and a fire lit, but it appeared to be empty. Looking around the entrance to the cave Kevin released a small sigh as old memories recurred in his mind. So many things had happened in that exact place, and at one time, it had seemed like the most important place to be; but suddenly it was nothing more than a cold, dark, hollow cave on a desolate mountain.

Kevin continued on, stepping into the darkened hollow and looking around the shadows carefully. Kevin was sure Edward and his friends would not be stupid enough to still reside there, but as he had no evidence to the contrary, he did not wish to expose himself to an unwelcome ambush.

"Mars?" he called out.

Kevin heard his voice quietly echo back to him, but otherwise received no reply other than the faint whisper of wind out on the hill behind him. Kevin walked into the centre of the cave, looking into all the darkened corners, but found nothing. Still feeling confident that he was on the right track, Kevin walked to the back of the cave and through an archway that led him into the warren of tunnels within the volcanic hillside that the DMP had once used as their base. Without the flame torches hanging on the walls to light the way, it rapidly became dark, almost too dark for Kevin to see more than an arm's length in any direction. Realising that he could become lost in the darkness, Kevin turned right and aimed himself towards an open hollow within the mountain that the DMP Legends had used as a conference room of sorts. It had openings out onto the hillside, and so what remained of the daylight outside ought to be lighting it, Kevin decided.

As Kevin reached his goal, he was only marginally surprised at what he saw. At the head of the room, the skin of a famous dragon Chojin had been pinned to the wall, directly above a large chair that almost looked like a crudely-fashioned stone throne. Sitting sideways in the throne, his legs bent over one arm-rest and his back rested against the other was Mars, dressed in only his shorts, his head-dress, coat-tails, boots and arm-guards absent, his body stained with dried blood. Mars had his head tilted back, facing upwards, his eyes closed and his teeth biting down onto an enormous, hand-rolled cigarette, smoke slowly swirling around him. A cautionary sniff of the air told Kevin it was not ordinary tobacco Mars was smoking, which worried him a little, as the last time Mars had smoked narcotics he had been a proud, fully-fledged member of the DMP.

"Mask."

Kevin stiffened, staring at Mars silently. Mars had not moved, and Kevin was still a considerable distance from him; it seemed illogical that he could have sensed Kevin's approach.

"I knew you'd come sooner or later," Mars continued, the spliff wiggling in the air as he spoke. "You always do."

Kevin stepped fully into the room, pausing to study Mars one more time, ascertaining that he still had not moved or opened his eyes. Kevin took a deep breath and started towards Mars, crossing the distance quickly in long strides.

"I ain't goin' back," Mars told him as he approached. "So if you're here to give me some piece o' crap speech about da power of friendship, you're wastin' your time."

"I didn't come here to talk about the power of friendship," Kevin replied, stopping in front of the throne.

Mars opened one eye, looking at Kevin curiously.

"No?" he asked.

"No," Kevin replied. "I just came here to tell you what a pathetic quitter you are."

"What?" Mars growled, moving around to sit in the throne properly, opening his other eye and fixing his golden stare onto Kevin.

"Well, some silly little boy called you some names, said some stupid things about you, and you ran away," Kevin said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Instead of standing up and beating some sense into the fool, you ran away with your tail between your legs like a coward. Which is interesting, because you accused the entire Muscle League of being idiotic cowards, when in fact the most cowardly and idiotic one amongst us is in fact you."

Mars took a long draw on his joint before rising to his feet and taking a step towards Kevin. He made to toss his joint aside, but Kevin caught his wrist, halting his action.

"Why don't you just finish that?" Kevin suggested. "I don't want you whining on about it later on."

Mars narrowed his eyes at Kevin, tugging his wrist from Kevin's grasp and returning his cigarette to his lips.

"You're a tough guy, Mask," he said. "Comin' here alone and talkin' to me like dis. You was always a tough guy, dat was why I liked you."

Mars slowly nodded his head, pushing his hair off his face with one hand.

"Dose other guys at da DMP all had issues," he continued. "We all did. But you kept in under control. You was always in control. I liked dat."

"So what's changed?" Kevin asked.

"I have," Mars replied, slapping a hand against his chest. "I changed. You didn't. You're still a tough guy, nothin' and nobody gets to you. You're like your dad. I know you hate your dad, but he's a tough guy too, ya know?"

"You can say what you want Mars, but you're still the baddest son of a bitch I know," Kevin said.

"Thanks Mask," Mars said with a nod of his head. "I appreciate dat. But it ain't true. I gave up bein' a bad guy. Now I don't know what I am no more."

Mars stepped back, sitting into the throne again, loosely draping his arms over the armrests.

"I can't go back, so you're wastin' your time here," he said with finality. "If I go back, I gotta watch my girl turn on me, and den I gotta watch my best friend – you – turn his back on me to protect his little brother. He got to you too Mask, admit it."

Kevin cleared his throat nervously, trying to close his mind to the thoughts it had become flooded with when he had seen Edward standing directly beneath Mars's Swallow Tail attack.

"If you had killed Edward yesterday, it would have achieved nothing," Kevin began carefully.

"Kiki would be free," Mars flatly replied.

"Don't you think it would make more sense to let everyone learn the truth about everything Edward is telling them?" Kevin challenged.

"But Eddie is tellin' da truth. He always does, dat's why he's winnin' here."

Kevin cleared his throat again, turning to one side, something distinctly unsettling rising from the back of his conscience at Mars's words.

"I was really drunk dat night," Mars said quietly.

Kevin stole a glance at Mars from the corner of his eye, finding him looking at his feet, his hair hanging down and obscuring his expression.

"I was real drunk, I just got failed for da second time from Da Academy," Mars continued.

Kevin turned away again, waiting apprehensively for what was to follow. It was a question he had always wanted to ask Mars, but had never had the chance to, and one he had never had a satisfactory answer to any previous times Mars had broached the subject.

"I wanted to go to Da Palace, but some asshole stole my money, so I just took as much liquor as I could from everybody else and drank until I forgot my own name. I don't remember what happened, I just know dat when I woke up, your brother was lyin' next to me."

Kevin nodded his head but did not turn around.

"He wasn't wearin' nothin' but a T-shirt, and I wasn't wearin' nothin' at all," Mars added in a low voice. "He told me I was… Well, ya know… But Kev, I ain't never been dat way before, I never believed him, but I don't remember what happened."

Kevin nodded his head again, turning his head in Mars's direction.

"I did a lotta dumb things," Mars said, meeting his eyes. "Hell, I still do a lotta dumb things!"

Mars smirked, pointing at the half-smoked joint still hanging from his lips.

"I've been tryin' real hard not to be dat way no more," he said, lowering his head again.

"I know," Kevin replied. "And I think I understand where all this began. For what it's worth, I honestly don't think Kiki would talk to Edward about what you asked her to do for you."

Mars's head snapped up and he glared at Kevin with thinned eyes, his expression a mixture of confusion and worry.

"I'm just guessing here," Kevin explained, turning to fully face Mars. "But I thought that since you had cleared away so many of the demons of your past, like your DMP days, that maybe you'd decided you wanted to visit your home."

Mars slowly pulled the spliff from his lips, holding it sideways in front of his face, frowning at it curiously.

"I was just a guess," Kevin offered. "I thought maybe you wanted to take Kiki to meet your family. It was the only part of your past you hadn't confronted, it just seemed like the next logical thing for you to do."

"Well fuck me," Mars said, grinding his joint into the stone armrest at his side, extinguishing it and destroying it completely before swatting aside the remains. "I wasn't gonna tell nobody else."

"You didn't tell me, and I certainly won't tell anyone," Kevin assured him.

"Heh, yeah," Mars said, shaking his head. "I wanted to do things right wid Kiki, and I knew I had to make it right wid my family first."

"Well, you're not going to get that done sitting out here feeling sorry for yourself," Kevin replied.

"I know."

Mars clawed his hands through his hair a few times, pulling it back from his face. He turned to look over his shoulder at Doomsmane's remains, a grin appearing on his face.

"I couldn't resist," he said, turning back to Kevin.

"You could make yourself a nice pair of boots out of that," Kevin suggested, pointing at the dragon's hide.

Mars laughed, slapping a hand against one thigh.

"Hey Kev, you finally learned how to loosen up!" Mars said cheerfully.

"Well, it's late, why don't we just stay here tonight?" Kevin offered. "For old time's sake. But if we do this, you have to promise that this really is the last time you will ever come up here."

"Hey, I got beer, let's take it back to my room and watch da stars." Mars said, standing up.

"On one condition," Kevin replied, holding up a hand to stop Mars's progress.

"Oh yeah?"

"In the morning, we go back, and we show those miserable buffoons on our team how to fight like a Devil Chojin."

"DMP style?"

"Exactly."

"You got it."

Mars started off in the direction of his cave, and Kevin followed at his heels.

* * *

Roxanne poked at her food a few more times with one chopstick before finally shoving aside her plate with a sigh. Looking around herself, she saw The Anarchists all laughing and enjoying themselves, and Trixie and Jacqueline sitting together discussing something. A sophisticated, flat-screen, battery-powered television had appeared since the day before, leading Roxanne to believe that one of The Anarchists had stolen it from somewhere, since, judging by their other lifestyle habits, they were apparently penniless, petty criminals. Although the television itself did not particularly concern Roxanne – it was, after all, just another trophy of their thieving ways – the news story they were watching with such merriment left Roxanne feeling physically sickened. 

"Muscle League leader Kevin Mask then kicked his team-mate Mars in the groin, sparking a vicious fight between the two Muscle League representatives," the newsreader said, as a video of Kevin and Mars beating into each other replayed, the other running towards them in slow-motion at the back of the screen.

"Dat's right, I ain't no clean-livin', nice-guy like dese other – out here," Mars said, the daytime news show silencing out his expletive.

"After declaring himself still an evil Devil Chojin as he was in his DMP days, Mars fled the arena," the newsreader continued. "And has not been seen or heard from since. This morning, IWF chairman Ikeman McMadd and Muscle League coach Meat both refused to comment on the situation. But this journalist must ask: is Edward Mask correct? He said "the heart won't lie, the black heart of a Devil Chojin can never be purified", and we ask viewers to vote whether or not they think Edward was right about Mars."

The laughter from The Anarchists suddenly became hysterical as two coloured bars appeared on the television screen, showing that 89 or viewers agreed with Edward that Mars was evil, 2 were unsure, and a measly 9 disagreed with Edward and still had faith in Mars as a Justice Chojin and member of the Muscle League.

"And there you have it," the newsreader continued, shaking her head solemnly. "The outlook for Mars's future certainly looks bleak."

The camera shifted a shot of the torn remains of Mars's black winged cloak, which had evidently been shredded from his shoulders during his altercations with The Anarchists inside the ring, as his "wings" were left clinging to the ring ropes, flapping vigorously in the wind like a group of angry bats. Watching the oddly poetic image, Roxanne felt so confused, her loyalties torn; but after turning her attention to Edward for a few seconds, she finally realised what it was that she wanted.

"I want to see Kiki," she said.

At first, only Sprite appeared to hear her, turning in her direction and tilting his head curiously.

"Edward, I said I want to see Kiki!" Roxanne said in a louder voice.

Edward stopped laughing, turning his head in her direction.

"Kiki asked to be left alone," Edward reminded her. "She said she would join us when she was ready."

"Edward, that was the night before last, she hasn't had anything to eat or drink since then, she could die!" Roxanne argued.

Edward sighing, slouching his shoulders.

"Well, you know where she is, feel free to try to talk some sense into her yourself," Edward offered.

"I will," Roxanne said, standing up and turning to her friends. "Trixie, Jack, are you girls coming with me?"

Trixie and Jacqueline looked at Roxanne before turning to each other and muttering a few things together.

"We'll be with you in a minute," Trixie eventually replied.

"Fine," Roxanne said, spinning on her heel and marching towards the room Kiki was still hiding in.

It did not take Roxanne long to reach the door, which she found to be still locked from the outside, despite Edward having told the girls that he would leave it unlocked to allow Kiki the opportunity to leave if she so desired.

"Kiki?" Roxanne called as she began to unfasten the bolts. "Kiki, it's Roxanne! Kiki, are you alright?"

Roxanne finally got the door open, stepping inside the dimly lit room. After returning to their hide-out, The Anarchists had, for a reason Roxanne failed to recall, decided to have a party that had lasted all night into the following morning. It had been almost two full days since they had set out to Tokyo for what should have been the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament, before Edward changed his mind on the way there; which had, at first, seemed reasonable to Roxanne.

"Kiki?" she said softly as she spotted Kiki sat on a pile of straw, her arms cuddled around her legs.

"Roxanne…" Kiki said quietly, her head down, her voice a little muffled against her knees.

"Kiki, are you okay?" Roxanne asked, walking over to stand in front of the heap of straw Kiki was sat on.

Kiki slowly shook her head, lifting her eyes to look at Roxanne directly.

"I didn't think so," Roxanne said gently, clambering over the straw and sitting herself down at Kiki's side. "I know what happened in Disneyland looked bad, but I'm sure Mars was just angry, and I'm sure he wasn't talking about you."

Roxanne put a supportive arm around Kiki's shoulders, resting her head against Kiki's head.

"Where are the others?" Kiki asked.

"The Anarchists are still partying," Roxanne replied. "Trixie and Jack are just coming."

"Edward said I had to stay in here until I decided how I felt about what Mars said and did," Kiki said blankly.

"Okay…" Roxanne said slowly. "And have you thought about it?"

"I haven't thought about anything else," Kiki said darkly. "How could I? I'm ready to see Edward now."

"Oh, okay," Roxanne brightened, lifting her head from Kiki's. "Let's go together!"

"No," Kiki said slowly.

Roxanne, who had started to stand up, hesitated in a crouch, frowning back at Kiki.

"Huh?"

Kiki shook her head.

"Tell Edward to come in here," she said without looking at Roxanne.

"Um, okay…" Roxanne said slowly, rising to her feet. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Kiki nodded again, and Roxanne started towards the door. She was worried that Kiki had perhaps snapped and gone insane; but she hoped that Edward would be able to talk her round. Edward certainly had a way with words, Roxanne silently admitted to herself.

"Hey Edward?" Roxanne called to Edward as he came into her sights. "Kiki said she wants to see you now."

Edward stood up and started towards Roxanne, followed by Trixie and Jacqueline. Roxanne turned and led them back to where Kiki still sat, vaguely aware that the other members of Edward's group were gradually joining them as they went.

"Kiki?" Roxanne said as she neared where Kiki sat. "Edward's here."

Kiki lifted her head, smiling as she spotted Edward standing a short way behind Roxanne. She got to her feet, brushing the straw from her tattered dress and smoothing back her hair before approaching Edward.

"Niss Nonaka?" Edward greeted her, his tone betraying his curiosity.

"I've been thinking," Kiki began, smiling brightly at Edward. "Mainly about what happened in Disneyland, but also about all those other things you've told me about Mars, and all the things Mars has told me about himself."

Edward nodded slowly, touching a hand to Kiki's shoulder.

"I understand," he said gently.

"Oh but I don't think that you do," Kiki said, slapping Edward's hand from her shoulder, her smile fading and her tone suddenly growing cold.

"What?" Edward muttered.

"The biggest difference between you and Mars is that you think I'm a silly little girl, and Mars knows that I'm not!" Kiki said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "And frankly, neither are any of my supposed friends, although the way they've been behaving lately, it's getting hard to remember that!"

"Kiki…" Roxanne said quietly, eying her friend over in shock.

"Action speaks louder than words, but not nearly as often (1)," Kiki continued. "And you've done a lot of talking, Eddie, but Mars takes a lot more action."

Edward lifted his chin in the air, his mask concealing his true expression in response to Kiki's challenge.

"Mars certainly did a lot of talking in Tokyo," he began slowly. "And as I recall–"

"One more thing, Eddie," Kiki interrupted him. "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt (2)."

Edward slowly nodded his head, but Roxanne did not fail to notice that the other Anarchists had all slunk back a little from him.

"Well, it's easy to see why scarface is so fond of you," Edward said tightly.

"His name is Mars," Kiki corrected him fearlessly. "You won't be able to forget it soon, because you'll always remember him as the one who ended your career in the wrestling ring."

Sprite made a small noise of concern, backing up into the doorway. The other Anarchists all edged back a little further too, leaving Edward and the girls separate at the back corner of the room.

"Knowing everything you do about "Mars"," Edward sneered sarcastically. "And how well I have treated your friends, this is still your final decision?"

"Decision?" Kiki repeated. "What decision? You took us here by force! You're only saying nice things to us now because you know it's hurting the Muscle League! Even if you and your motley crew of fools did somehow defeat the Muscle League, you would forget all about us! You don't care about us, but the Muscle League does!"

Kiki turned to Roxanne, the uncharacteristic look of anger flashing in her eyes enough to make Roxanne let out a small noise of surprise as their eyes met.

"Roxanne!" Kiki said forcefully, pointing a finger at Roxanne. "These jerks ruined your wedding! Don't you remember what Eddie said at the reception? He said he was turning it into a reception party for his stupid little band of friends! He took over your wedding party, ruined it, and took us prisoner! He only started being nice to you when the fight with Kid was coming up, and he only did that to turn you against Kid so that Kid would be distracted and lose! You love Kid, why the hell would you turn your back on him because of this moaning little bitch?"

Roxanne gulped, glancing between Kiki and Edward nervously.

"Trixie!" Kiki yelled, pointing her finger in Trixie's direction. "You get confused sometimes, and you're easily led astray by people who know the right thing to say to you! We all get confused, but here's a clue to help keep you on the right track: if it looks like a pile of crap and smells like a pile of crap, it probably is just a pile of crap! You usually laugh at losers like this pile of crap!"

Trixie squeaked as Kiki shamelessly pointed at Edward with her last remark.

"So what the hell are you doing hanging around him and acting like his friend?" Kiki finished.

Trixie turned to Roxanne, and they both exchanged looks of confusion before snapping back to attention as Kiki continued her barrage.

"Jacqueline!" she said, pointing at Jacqueline. "What happened to your dream of being the chairman of the IWF? It's never gonna happen if you're stupid enough to let the DMP talk you into taking their side in a tournament! Are any of these creeps really worth sacrificing your dreams for? What the hell have any of them ever done for you?"

Jacqueline looked down at her hands for a moment, looking lost.

"You're all stupid!" Kiki yelled, folding her arms over her chest again. "If you can't see what a bunch lying, cheating fools these "Anarchists" are, then you all deserve to have them use you! I'm not falling for any of it! The Muscle League won't let us down, and nothing can change the way I feel about Mars! He maybe said and did some stupid things in Disneyland, but he says and does a lot of stupid things that he doesn't mean when he's trying to act tough, it's part of who he is, and I love him just the way he is!"

"Are you finished?" Jacqueline asked quietly, her eyes still on her hands.

"For now, yes," Kiki replied.

Jacqueline slowly lifted her head, an angered scowl on her face.

"You know, I always thought you were the silliest, most naïve little girl that I knew," Jacqueline said slowly. "But you're actually quite smart. And you're absolutely right. And standing up and saying what you did tells me that you are actually the strongest person in this room."

Jacqueline walked over to Kiki's side.

"Screw these guys, I want the IWF chair!" Jacqueline said, copying Kiki's stance and turning to Edward. "I'm with Kiki!"

"Kiki, you're always so weird in a situation…" Trixie grumbled, walking over to Jacqueline's side. "But you're always right, too. I'm with Kiki."

"Me too!" Roxanne agreed, hurrying over to Trixie's side. "I'm with Kiki!"

Edward nodded his head solemnly.

"So that's it is it?" he asked quietly. "Mars's little toy says a few bold words, and suddenly you have all changed your minds?"

"We were scared and confused before," Trixie said. "We didn't know what we were doing. But Kiki's right, and we're sticking with her from now on. She's our real friend."

"I see," Edward said softly. "Well, here's a little something from me to Kiki."

Kiki held her head up high as Edward approached her, failing to detect the distinct change in Edward's tone and stance; and she was on the ground before she even felt the pain of the blow he delivered.

"Hey, what the hell?" Trixie yelled.

Edward turned his head to Trixie, fixing her with a glowing, green glare, his hand still suspended in the air where it had collided with Kiki's face in a vicious back-hand.

"You can all rot in here," he said darkly, before turning and marching out of the room, his group hurriedly disappearing ahead of him.

"What an ass!" Trixie roared as the sound of the bolts locking into place over the door echoed around them.

"Kiki, are you okay?" Roxanne asked, wrapping an arm around Kiki and lifting her into a sitting position.

"Hey come on, you can't go soft on us now, not after that brave performance!" Jacqueline said softly, crouching at Roxanne's side.

"Kiki?" Trixie asked, running around to Kiki's other side, eying over her limp form cradled in Roxanne's arms.

"Talk to us, Kiki," Roxanne whispered.

"That really hurt," Kiki groaned, a small trickle of blood escaping from one corner of her mouth. "But it was totally worth it to get you idiots to see some sense!"

The others laughed a little as Kiki smiled at them affectionately.

"Wow Kiki," Roxanne said with a sigh. "You really believe in Mars, huh?"

Kiki nodded her head, closing her eyes.

"I always have. I'm really tired now though," she said quietly.

"Us too, we've been up all night," Trixie said. "Let's all get some sleep, yeah?"

Kiki watched the others with a contented smile as they gathered straw around her and all lay close to her to sleep. With her friends back at her side she felt a lot more confident, her inner strength building. As she drifted off to sleep, Kiki hoped that the next week would pass quickly, and soon she would be back watching the stars with Mars again; she was certain he would be proud of her when he heard that she had not allowed Edward Mask's stupid games to sway her loyalties for even a second.

* * *

Kevin paused in the doorway to the block of apartments Amy lived in, looking over his shoulder with a small frown at Mars. They had agreed not to drink too much the night before, but Kevin was certain that Mars had snuck off after he had gone to sleep to finish off the beer he had taken to the former DMP headquarters with him. Mars was standing in the middle of the sidewalk in his new wrestling outfit and Kevin's coat, yawning shamelessly, his mouth open wide and his eyes closed. He looked positively ridiculous; his clothing was still marred with blood stains, his face was pale from his actions the night before and Kevin's coat was just slightly too big for Mars, the sleeves hanging over his hands, and the overall length coming down to below his knees. 

"Come on," Kevin encouraged him, stepping inside and holding the door for Mars.

"Hey, did you ask Emma to make us some breakfast?" Mars asked as he stepped into the doorway.

"Firstly Mars, her name is Amy," Kevin began, walking on down the hall to the stairs. "Secondly, it's two in the afternoon, a bit late for breakfast."

"Lunch den," Mars said with a shrug, following Kevin up the stairs.

"No, I just asked her to open the door," Kevin replied.

"Damn," Mars grumbled.

Kevin reached the black door of Amy's apartment, knocking lightly.

"Hey, we're home," Mars said bluntly, shouldering the door open and stumbling into Amy's apartment uninvited.

"Mars!" Kevin hissed, following after him and closing the door behind them.

"Hey, what gives?" Mars asked, holding out his arms at his side.

Kevin stepped into the sitting room, looking about himself curiously. The room was tidier than it had been when Kevin had left, and a few items appeared to be missing; to Kevin's relief, one of the absent items was Amy's vase of flowers.

"Hey, you guys were gone a long time!" Amy greeted them, appearing behind Kevin.

Kevin turned to her, tilting his head as he saw the unusual expression she wore.

"I figured you would be focussing on fight tactics when you got back," she said slowly.

"Hey, what gives?" Mars interrupted her, turning to face her. "You can't even cook for us comin' home now?"

Amy pulled a face at Mars before smiling and shaking her head.

"Okay," she said slowly. "I'm not your mother, and this isn't your home."

"I'm hungry here!" Mars argued.

"Shut up, Mars," Kevin said, waving a hand at him. "What's going on here?" he asked Amy.

"I'm leaving," Amy said with a nod of her head. "I spoke to Hiroshi, he said he'll let you and Mars stay here until the end of the Bad Blood Tournament."

"But where will you stay?" Kevin asked her.

"I'm going to stay with Marie, she offered me Roxanne's old room," Amy replied. "It's just a bit crowded in here, and I don't want to interfere in your… Y'know… So I was just waiting for you to get back to let you know that was what's happening."

Kevin watched Amy nod her head and turn her back on him, walking back into her bedroom.

"Hey, I'm still hungry over here!" Mars said, poking Kevin in the shoulder.

"Feed yourself, you bloody vulture!" Kevin snapped before marching after Amy.

Amy was fastening a medium-sized suitcase shut as Kevin entered her room, his eyes flitting nervously around his surroundings as the implications of where he was occurred to him.

"Bloody hell Kevin, I never heard you come in!" Amy yelped, clasping a hand to her chest as she spotted him.

"Well I…" Kevin began, unsure of exactly how he had intended to end that sentence, since his motivations for following her into bedroom were still unclear in his own mind. "I came to help you with your suitcase," Kevin recovered, pointing at the case Amy had stood upright on the edge of her bed.

"Oh, that's no problem, I can manage," she said, looking a little flustered at his offer. "I'm just going to catch a taxi and I'll be out your hair."

"What about your bike?" Kevin asked.

"I sold it," Amy flatly replied.

"Oh," Kevin said.

"Yeah, someone in the restaurant wanted to buy it as a present for his daughter or something. Suits me. Anyway, I'm off."

Amy hoisted her suitcase off the bed, her arm jarring as the weight of the case caught her.

"At least let me carry that downstairs for you," Kevin insisted. "And let me take you on my bike."

"I can't carry this thing on the back of your bike!" Amy protested, moving the suitcase out of Kevin's reach. "And I can carry it fine on my own, you don't need to do all that "iron knight" crap with me, remember?"

"Stop being so bloody stubborn and give me the bloody suitcase woman!" Kevin argued back, grabbing the case and yanking it from Amy's grasp.

Kevin did a double-take at the suitcase as it swung from his fingers, a sickening feeling slowly creeping over his skin: not only was the suitcase bright yellow, it was covered in pictures of that stupid little white cat.

"I borrowed it from a friend," Amy said darkly. "I was trying to save you from embarrassing yourself…"

Kevin remained silent, his eyes till fixed on the suitcase.

"I'll be fine, it's a nice day, I might even walk," Amy said, reaching for her suitcase.

"Carrying this?" Kevin asked, pulling it out of her reach. "Are you crazy?"

"Kev, put da damn suitcase down and get your ass in da kitchen, I'm starvin' here!" Mars interrupted, staggering into the room.

"Feed yourself!" Kevin shouted at him.

"Hey, I don't cook!" Mars returned. "And dis is a nice room, I'm sleepin' in here if she's leavin'."

Amy nodded at Mars to confirm that she was going.

"We'll see about that…" Kevin muttered. "Look, let me–"

Kevin stopped abruptly as he felt Amy's hands against his. She gave him a small smile before gently pulling at her suitcase. Kevin opened his fingers, allowing her to take it back, watching her numbly as she walked past him and Mars and out of the room.

"Good, now fix me some food," Mars said, pointing over his shoulder.

"Mars, I–"

Kevin stopped again at the sound of the front door closing.

"She's gone," he said instead, turning to Mars.

"Yeah, she said she was leavin'," Mars replied. "What, wasn't you listenin'?"

"I just thought that…"

"Forget about it Kev. Fix us some food, dat oughta keep your mind focussed."

Kevin sighed, shaking his head.

"Let's just eat downstairs in the restaurant," he suggested.

"You're payin'," Mars said with a smile.

"And you're taking a shower and changing before we go," Kevin insisted. "And give me my bloody coat back!"

"You're such a bitch…" Mars moaned as Kevin sharply pulled his coat from Mars.

"I'm buying you food, but then we get to work, agreed?"

Mars nodded, rolling his eyes.

"I gotcha," he agreed.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The Bad Blood Tournament returns with the four-way, last-man standing, elimination match featuring Wally Tusket, Terry Kenyon, Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger. It's dirty tactics all-round as the Muscle League pull out all stops to win back Trixie and Jacqueline (NB the fight lasts two chapters). **Chapter 18 – Fatal Four-Way**.

**A/N(2):** In 1 and 2, Kiki is quoting Mark Twain (for anyone who had not already figured it out). Updates will continue to be slower, too much RL going on.


	18. Fatal FourWay

**A/N:** …so where does Dik Dik keep his Antler Fist when not is use…?

**Recap:** Kevin found Mars and they agreed to change their strategy for fighting The Anarchists, Kiki stood up to Edward and convinced the girls to turn their backs on The Anarchists.

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Fatal Four-Way**

"Good afternoon fight fans, this is Mac Metaphor, back for the revised Bad Blood Tournament, at the Hand of Hercules for the first match, which will be a four-way, last-man-standing elimination bout featuring the Muscle League team of Terry Kenyon, Wally Tusket, Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger against the DMP team of Master DJ, Wolfang, Road Rage and Hydrazoa!"

"Wow Mac, you didn't even stop for a breath there!"

"That's because I'm so excited about today's big fight, Doc."

"It certainly looks to be one for the books, Mac. And of course if the Muscle League win today, Trixie Maekawa and Jacqueline McMadd, sister of chairman Ikeman McMadd will be freed."

"You've got to wonder if Edward Mask has any tricks up his sleeve for this one, Doc."

"We'll find out soon Mac."

As he made his way down to the front row, Kevin was relieved to find the seats behind him were already filled with fans; but his complacency was short-lived as he sat into his seat, his eyes immediately landing on the masked face in the front row at the other side of the ring staring directly back at him.

"They are here," he said solemnly as Mars sat down next to him.

Mars took a moment longer to locate Edward and his three friends at the other side of the ring, making a grunt of acknowledgement as he finally set eyes on them.

"He looks scared," Mars said with a smirk. "And he oughta be."

"How can you tell, he's wearing a mask?" Kevin asked, turning to Mars.

Mars winked at Kevin, tapping a finger against the side of his nose.

"Don't start that nonsense again," Kevin grumbled.

Mars grinned at Kevin, before turning to watch as the other Muscle Leaguers not competing that day all gradually joined them. Kevin paid little attention to the approaching group until he heard a voice that captured his interest.

"Kid, I already told you three times," he heard Amy say. "And that was just today! I've told you hundreds of times before that!"

"Just tell me the bit about the beef again," Kid pleaded.

Kevin turned his head, finding Kid and Amy walking together, Kid all but drooling at her side.

"You're just making yourself hungry," Amy warned Kid.

"What's wrong with that?" Kid asked innocently, sticking his pinky up his nose and scraping it around absent-mindedly.

Kevin watched them sit down next to Meat and Marie, Amy disappearing from his line of sight behind Mars's head. Kevin leaned from side to side in an attempt to find an angle from which he could still see her, but stopped himself as he realised that Mars was turned towards him, smirking at him amusedly.

"What?" Kevin asked innocently, relaxing back into his seat and looking directly at Mars.

Mars slowly and deliberately turned and leaned forwards, taking a prolonged look at Amy before turning back to Kevin.

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding his head, his grin widening.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kevin replied, trying to keep his tone steady and cool.

"I didn't say nothin'," Mars pointed out.

Kevin cleared his throat, slowly turning away from Mars to face the ring.

"Hey, remember Mask, no girls when we got a tournament goin' on," Mars warned him.

"And your excuse for running around with Kiki during the Chojin Crown and the replacement matches was what, exactly?" Kevin snapped back.

"I ain't messin' about right now," Mars calmly replied. "I'm just focussin' on dis tournament."

"You're not messing about right now because you can't. You'll be making up for lost time once this is all over."

"Yeah, it'll sure be nice to get back home and have some fun wid my girl again."

Kevin slowly shifted his eyes to Mars, watching him from the corner of his eye as Mars broke into an enormous grin. Mars moved his eyes to Kevin, a knowing look passing over his eyes. Kevin sighed, images of Mars and Kiki skipping around the Mask Estate replaying painfully in his mind despite his best efforts to ignore them.

"Let's just watch the bloody fight," Kevin grumbled.

Ikeman made his way into the ring, waving an almost regal wave at the fans around him before raising the microphone to start the event.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the revised first round of the Bad Blood Tournament!" Ikeman announced cheerfully. "Today will be a special four-way, last-man-standing, elimination match! In the red corner, the Muscle League team: Jaeger, Dik Dik Van Dik, Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket!"

The Hercules Factory graduation anthem began to play, and the four Muscle Leaguers began to make their way to the ring, looking solemn and determined. Some still had visible marks from their confrontations with The Anarchists the first time around, but all had committed to training hard to defeat their opponents on this second opportunity. This time, the team was unaccompanied; Terryman and Broken Junior were both sitting in the audience, leaving the four-man tag team to battle alone.

"Just a reminder, ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman called out as the Muscle League Team approached the ring. "A wrestler can be eliminated by knock-out, count-out or disqualification. In order for a team to be victorious, all four members of the opposite team must have been eliminated."

"What if three of our team get eliminated?" Kid asked nobody in particular. "Does the last guy have to fight all four Anarchists?"

Mars sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Lucky for us dat idiot ain't in dis match," he muttered to Kevin.

Kevin nodded his head solemnly.

"Hey Kev, check dis out," Mars said, winking at Kevin and elbowing him in the ribs with his usual excessive force. "Hey pig-boy, if only one guy from our team is left, dat would be kinda like what happened to you in da replacement matches, huh?"

"What?" Kid echoed nervously.

"Kid won the replacement matches," Amy pointed out. "He beat three of your team, including you Mars."

Mars growled, thinning his eyes at Amy.

"Hey, I pissed in your toilet wid da seat down," he said, smirking at her.

"It's not my toilet any more," Amy flatly replied. "If you've messed it up, that's your problem."

"I wiped my ass on your towels!" Mars shot back.

"Those were my towels!" Kevin snapped.

"But dey was pink and fluffy!" Mars yelped, turning to Kevin.

"The shop only had the Egyptian cotton super-size towels in pink, and since I don't like the way ordinary towels feel on my skin, and I like a towel to wrap all the way around me, I had to buy the pink ones!"

Mars pulled an unusual face at Kevin, who slowly scanned around the others, finding them all watching him with a variety of amused expressions.

"This stupid tournament…" Kevin grumbled, turning his head away from the others.

"Well, dey was real soft on my cra–"

"Shut-up Mars!" Kevin snapped.

Mars grinned at him, clearly relishing the pain he was causing Kevin.

"And in the blue corner, the DMP team: Hydrazoa, Road Rage, Master DJ and Wolfang!" Ikeman announced.

The music changed and the DMP team began to make their way to the ring.

"Where are the girls?" Marie whispered to Meat.

"I dunno," Meat replied, shaking his head. "But they'll be back with us as soon as this match is over, that's for sure!"

Inside the ring, the Muscle League team all nodded their heads in agreement, and Jaeger and Dik Dik left the ring. Wally made as if to follow them, but Terry caught his arm, shaking his head slightly. The DMP team arrived at ringside, and after a brief huddle, Wolfang stepped forwards to start the match. Wally pulled down the middle rope and started as though to step through, but as soon as the bell ran, he grabbed Terry's hand and they ran at Wolfang, sending him over the top rope with a double clothesline. Master DJ leapt into the ring, but Terry kicked him in the head before he could be of any use.

Wally left the ring, leaving Terry to continue his onslaught on Master DJ, whom he kicked to the mat before locking on his trademark Spinning Toe Hold to Master DJ's ankle. Wolfang leapt back up onto the ring apron and grabbed at the ropes, leaning between the top and middle rope as though to enter the ring; but was sent back as one of the horns of Dik Dik's Antler Fist flew across the ring and embedded itself into his shoulder. He snarled angrily, dropping back to the floor and clawing at the horn, deepening the wound with his struggle.

Inside the ring, Master DJ was kicking out at Terry with his free leg, but Terry was smiling down at him, which was only making Master DJ's attacks more desperate and less accurate.

"Hey, if you wanna give me your other leg, why don't I show you a little move ma good friend Mars taught me?" Terry said, grinning darkly as he grabbed Master DJ's other ankle. "This right here is what he calls a Spinning Double Toe Hold!"

Terry hooked his leg over Master DJ's other ankle and twisted around, forcing his legs to bend and contort in directions they were never meant to, just as Mars had done to Terry in their battle during the replacement matches.

"Not so confident now, huh?" Terry sneered, twisting Master DJ's legs further, eliciting another cry of pain from his opponent.

Wolfang, who had finally managed to dislodge Dik Dik's antler from his shoulder, roared out a vicious snarl and leapt over the top rope, sending Terry to the mat with a powerful clothesline. As Terry fell, he tightened his legs against Master DJ's, feeling satisfied at the crunching sounds that resulted as he fell to the ground. Wolfang grabbed Terry by the throat and dragged him from Master DJ, who crawled from the ring, leaving Terry to battle his team-mate.

"I ain't forgotten what you did the last time we met, ya mangy mutt!" Terry said, grabbing Wolfang's wrist by his throat.

Terry gripped his fingers into Wolfang's arm and twisted his hands around sharply, twisting Wolfang's skin. Wolfang snarled out, his fingers opening enough for Terry to pull his head back. He released Wolfang's arm and leapt back, smiling confidently at Wolfang as their eyes met, a small cheer of appreciation from the audience only fuelling Terry's confidence further still. Wolfang growled lowly, stalking around the ring in a wide circle, studying Terry carefully as he went. Terry followed his action, keeping an even distance between them, his grin still present on his face.

Wolfang slowed to a halt, pausing before taking two quick, forceful steps towards Terry, who took one step back, readying himself for an attack.

"Terry, behind you!" Dik Dik yelled.

Terry turned, his eyes widening as Road Rage's arm swung towards his neck. Terry ducked out of the way, Road Rage's elbow skimming over the top of his head, and retaliated with a kick under the bottom rope at Road Rage's ankle. Road Rage tried to grab at Terry through the ropes, distracting him from Wolfang inside the ring, who began to charge forwards. Wally quickly ducked through the ropes and ran at Wolfang, knocking him off his feet with a one-handed bulldog. Terry turned back to the centre of the ring in confusion at the sound of the two Chojins hitting the mat, failing to notice Road Rage grabbing for one of his ankles.

Terry tripped over, falling face-first to the mat. With a snarl of frustration he slid himself out of the ring under the bottom rope and grabbed Road Rage's ankles, pulling him to the ground. Terry smashed Road Rage's head into the corner-post before jogging around to his own corner where he took his place alongside Dik Dik and Jaeger, allowing Wally to continue the match with Wolfang.

"I still don't agree with your tactics, but I gotta admit, our team is lookin' a lot better out there today," Meat said flatly, casting Mars and Kevin a sideward glance.

"Hey, you can't be worryin' about playin' fair when you're fightin' da DMP," Mars replied matter-of-factly.

"I still think we needed more time to prepare," Kid said with a sigh.

"Huh?" Meat echoed, turning to Kid with a concerned expression.

"I've hardly had time to get any work done on my costume for Pepero Day," Kid said forlornly. "I haven't even thought about what you're going to wear Meat."

Meat whimpered out a small noise before grinning nervously and patting Kid's knee.

"Th-that's okay Kid, you don't gotta worry about me!" he said. "I'm fine as I am, no need for a costume!"

"What is Pepero Day anyway?" Marie asked Kid.

"The 11th of November!" Kid replied, looking at her as though she had gone mad.

"I thought the 11th of November was just associated with World War One," Amy said, frowning curiously at Kid. "I've never heard of Pepero Day, what is it?"

"It's Pepero Day!" Kid replied, rolling his eyes.

"What does Pepero mean?" Amy asked, losing a little of her patience.

"It means Pepero!" Kid insisted.

"Damn it…" Amy grumbled, dropping her face into one hand.

"Dat's Valentine's Day, ain't it?" Mars offered.

The others turned to him with a variety of curious expressions, at which Mars simply shrugged his shoulders.

"I heard it was Valentine's Day in South Korea," he explained.

"No, that's not right," Kid said, shaking his head. "It's a day when guys in South Korea gives candies and flowers to their girlfriends."

Mars grumbled something under his breath, only the words "idiot" and "pig-boy" clearly decipherable.

"I was thinking I could dress Meat up as a lily," Kid said cheerfully. "His little legs kinda look like the bits inside a lily already, he just needs a modified dress that looks like petals and some nice orange stockings."

"What?" Meat roared, waving a fist at Kid. "You ain't dressin' me up as a flower, Kid!"

"And a tall green hat for the stalk," Kid continued, holding his hands slightly above Meat's head to indicate where the hat should sit.

"I ain't dressin' up as a flower Kid, I got some dignity!" Meat said sternly.

"And I'm going as a Pepero!" Kid finished.

"What exactly is a Pepero?" Kevin muttered, leaning closer to Mars.

"No idea," Mars muttered back. "Some kinda candy, I guess."

"On a scale of one to ten, how embarrassing is his costume likely to be?" Kevin asked. "Because if it's four or higher, I'm not going to their match."

"Me neither," Mars agreed.

"And we'll enter to the Pepero song!" Kid added suddenly, poking at Checkmate. "What do ya think, Checkmate?"

"Methinks a separate entrance is called for," Checkmate tactfully replied. "Lest I steal thy thunder, I shall enter separately and to my own routine."

"Yeah, then all the girls can focus on me!" Kid said brightly, failing to notice Checkmate's sarcasm.

"Dufus," Mars coughed into his hand.

"What does a Pepero look like?" Amy asked Kid.

"Tall and brown," Kid replied. "Or sometimes yellow."

Amy pulled a face at Kid, but he failed to notice her scepticism as he retrieved a measuring tape from an invisible pocket, quietly stretching it across Meat's shoulders and nodding his head at what he saw.

Inside the ring, Wally and Wolfang were locked together, seemingly both attempting a back body drop of some sorts, but neither able to lift the other from the canvas. The two struggled on, a silence building amongst those watching on as everyone wondered which wrestler would break first. One of Wally's feet slid a little, but less than a second later, he hoisted Wolfang into the air. As Wolfang's body passed over Wally's head, he opened his mighty jaws and bit down onto Wally's shoulder, breaking from Wally's hold to drop back down in front of Wally, tugging sharply and threatening to remove Wally's entire shoulder.

"Dang, not again!" Terry grumbled, wringing the top rope in his hands.

"Be patient," Jaeger assured him. "Ve von't lose today."

Terry and Dik Dik eyed Jaeger questioningly, but he merely smiled in reply.

"Mars said it's endgame," he said.

Dik Dik and Terry turned to each other.

"He's right," Terry said confidently, nodding his head.

Dik Dik nodded, and all three turned back to the ring, finding Wally still caught in Wolfang's bite, but suddenly wearing an expression of angered determination. Wally lifted the arm Wolfang was attached to the shoulder of, grabbing the back of Wolfang's neck. Wally then jumped, kicking his legs out and falling to the mat, bringing Wolfang down sharply with him, forcing his neck to bend back.

"Dogs can't look up!" Wally said smugly as Wolfang released his hold with a howl of pain.

"Alright Wally!" Terry cheered, clapping his hands appreciatively.

"I taught him that!" Kid told anyone who cared to listen.

"Fight like the DMP, right?" Wally growled, getting up and stamping a foot onto each of Wolfang's hands.

Wally reached down and grabbed Wolfang's tail, standing up and pulling back, lifting Wolfang's back end by his tail, bending his spine backwards in a sickening submission hold.

"KO by submission," Dik Dik said smugly, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on the top rope. "I like it."

Master DJ let out a curse at Dik Dik's comment and leapt over the top rope, charging at Wally. Jaeger quickly leapt in and flung himself at Master DJ, goring him in the centre of the ring, sending them both crashing to the mat. As Jaeger got up and reached for Master DJ, Master DJ kicked out one of Jaeger's ankles, tripping him over. Jaeger inadvertently collided with Wally, breaking his hold on Wolfang. Wolfang turned on Jaeger, his jaws open wide; but Jaeger caught Wolfang's nose in one hand and his chin in the other, holding his jaws apart and keeping him at bay.

Master DJ aimed a fist at Wally's face, but Wally caught his blow, clenching his fist around Master DJ's hand until he heard the crack of bones before jumping forwards and delivering a vicious head-butt to his opponent. Master DJ staggered back from the blow, falling against the ropes. Wally ran at Master DJ, failing to see the discs on his wrists start to spin. Master DJ dropped low to the ground and swung one arm around, gouging a deep cut through Wally's shins and bringing him to his knees. Master DJ started to get up, but Wally grabbed a handful of his hair and swung an elbow into his face, cracking the visor he wore over his eyes. Master DJ swung blindly out with his arm, swiping another, shallower, gash into the underside of Wally's forearm.

Wally shuffled back and got to his feet, but Master DJ was already up and charged at Wally's legs in a tackle. Wally dodged to one side and Master DJ shot past him, stopping abruptly behind Wally and slashing an arm around, cutting a diagonal line across Wally's back.

"What da hell is happenin' up dere?" Mars groaned. "Didn't we tell 'em not to put da guys who just got stitches taken out into da ring wid anyone who could cut?"

"Yes we did," Kevin said slowly. "But all their opponents have cutting attacks."

Mars looked thoughtful for a moment, images of Hydrazoa's Ice Sword, Road Rage's Rotary Saw, Master DJ's spinning discs and Wolfang's teeth and claws drifting through his mind.

"Damnit…" he grumbled.

"Don't worry, they won't lose this time," Kevin assured Mars.

"Oh no?" Mars sneered.

"No," Kevin said confidently. "Don't you remember the other thing we told them?"

"We told dem dat… No, what did we say?"

"We said if they aren't victorious they have us to answer to."

"Oh yeah, dat was a nice touch, Kev!"

"That doesn't apply to my match though, right?" Kid asked meekly, grinning at Mars and Kevin.

"Whadda you think, pig-boy?" Mars snapped, turning to glare at Kid threateningly.

Kid squeaked, grabbing Amy and somehow switching seats with her to use her to hide himself from Mars and Kevin.

"Moron…" Mars grumbled, turning back to the ring.

Jaeger was on his back, his hands still clamped onto Wolfang's jaws, which were stretched open mere inches above his head. He had one foot pressed into Wolfang's stomach, but as Wolfang out-matched him in weight, he was powerless to throw the wolf Chojin off himself. Beyond them, Master DJ had launched into the Turntable Snap move he had used on Terry Kenyon. As Wally's head hit the canvas, the gash along his back was ripped wider, and with a spluttering groan, Wally passed out.

Terry and Dik Dik froze in their corner, watching in silent horror as Master DJ released Wally's limp form and an IWF official ran over to check Wally's condition. Master DJ smiled sarcastically at Terry and Dik Dik before returning to his corner, standing next to Hydrazoa and Road Rage. As he came to rest, the bell rang and Ikeman picked up the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as a result of a knock-out, Wally Tusket is out of the match," he announced.

Inside the ring, Jaeger growled in frustration, lifting his other foot and kicking out hard with both heels, winding Wolfang, who let out a cough and staggered to one side. Jaeger quickly rolled to his feet, delivering a spinning heel kick to Wolfang's temple, causing him to stumble and land on one knee. Jaeger sent a drop-kick to Wolfang's shoulder, off-setting his balance and sending him to the mat. As Jaeger started towards his prone opponent, he saw Wally being carried from ringside on a stretcher, his anger peaking.

"Zhis is for Vally…" he growled, his right hand glowing red.

Wolfang scrambled under the bottom rope in an attempt to escape Jaeger by fleeing the ring, but he was unable to escape harm entirely as the lethally sharp blade of Jaeger's signature attack caught his hip, ripping through fur and skin to create a sizeable gash. Wolfang collapsed to the floor outside the ring, where he tried to regain his composure; but before he could rise again, Terry leapt off the ring apron, driving an elbow into the middle of Wolfang's back, flattening him to the floor one more.

Jaeger tilted his head, unsure if he really agreed with the fighting tactics his team were using: he remembered that Mars had insisted they fight with no ethics, but it still did not seem acceptable to Jaeger. But before he could give any lengthy consideration to the matter, Jaeger was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps behind him. Jaeger turned and ducked, Hydrazoa's Ice Sword swinging over the top of his head. Jaeger promptly grabbed his arms around Hydrazoa's waist, flipping over to deliver a suplex, only to find himself collapsing awkwardly onto his back as Hydrazoa slithered out of his grasp.

"You won't even get a single shot in at me," Hydrazoa said confidently.

"I don't agree," Jaeger said, flipping up to his feet and jabbing a hand forwards, stabbing his fingers into Hydrazoa's eyes.

It was not really an acceptable move, least of all for a Justice Chojin of the Muscle League, but Jeager was beginning to see more and more logic behind the advice Mars and Kevin had imparted upon his team during the past week. As Hydrazoa grabbed a hand over his eyes, Jaeger capitalised on his advantage, delivering a one-handed bulldog, pushing the heel of his hand as hard into the base of Hydrazoa's skull as he could, squashing his face into the mat upon impact. Jaeger kept his hold of Hydrazoa's head and began to pull him up, yelping in surprise and frustration as Hydrazoa once again slithered from his grasp.

"I know your fighting style Jaeger," Hydrazoa said confidently. "You can't fight me if you can't keep a hold of me."

Jaeger growled, refusing to answer Hydrazoa's accusation. He had hoped to be able to pull off a few moves that would have required him to keep a hold of Hydrazoa, but Jaeger was determined to find another way to destroy his former classmate, if only to teach him the error of his ways for turning to the DMP.

"Time to heat things up," Hydrazoa said with a grin, pulling his body outwards and leaping up.

Jaeger leapt back, looking up to watch Hydrazoa take on the form of a giant magnifying glass.

"You remember this move, right Jaeger?" Hydrazoa shouted down to him.

"Jaeger, let me take care of this," Dik Dik called to Jaeger.

Jaeger turned to Dik Dik, smiling knowingly as he saw Dik Dik lock on his Antler Fist.

"Very good," Jaeger said with a nod, tagging Dik Dik and stepping out of the ring.

Dik Dik hopped up onto the top rope and launched himself at Hydrazoa, his fist readied to punch directly into the centre of Hydrazoa's Aqua Lens. Hydrazoa drifted to one side and Dik Dik shot past him, but Dik Dik swung his hand back, the sharp points of his Antler Fist slicing into Hydrazoa's jelly body that framed the lens.

Suppressing a curse, Dik Dik allowed himself to fall back to the ring, landing in a crouch and looking up at Hydrazoa, studying his movements carefully, trying to estimate the best angle and moment to pounce. As Dik Dik paused, Hydrazoa continued with his attack, the sunlight above gradually drawing to a focus on the mat. Dik Dik leapt back as the canvas in front of him became scorched and began to smoke and sizzle.

"C'mon Dik Dik, if he sets fire to the ring, we're all in trouble here!" Terry yelled.

Dik Dik nodded at Terry, drawing back his arm and leaping up at Hydrazoa to attempt once more to punch through his Aqua Lens. As he rose through the air, Dik Dik was forced into the concentrated sun rays, which were not as dangerously hot as the focussed point on the mat, but still hot enough to sear his skin and bright enough to blind him from his target. Dik Dik's clamped his eyes shut and punched outwards as Hydrazoa drifted to one side, the points of his Antler Fist scouring two long lines across the lens faces from the centre outwards. As Dik Dik fell back to the ring, slithers of the Aqua Lens fell with him; but Dik Dik was still blinded from the concentrated sunlight, blinking desperately as he tried to regain his sense.

"Dik Dik!" Terry said urgently. "Snap out of it!"

Dik Dik cried out and leapt forwards as he felt the scorching light focus on his lower back, burning into his skin.

"You can't escape!" Hydrazoa sang, burning a hole into the mat where Dik Dik had been standing.

Through his still hindered eyesight, Dik Dik saw the hole ignite, a small fire starting. He glanced at his team-mates, who were glaring at him in alarm, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to best Hydrazoa. The concentrated light once more reached Dik Dik, burning at his shoulder. Dik Dik ran off, running around in a circle in the hope of disorienting Hydrazoa before launching another attack. As Hydrazoa followed after him, a thin line burned into the mat, the fire spreading and growing. Dik Dik quickly scaled the ropes and launched himself at Hydrazoa again, his eyesight still not sufficiently recovered for his aim to be accurate.

As Dik Dik neared his target, Hydrazoa dodged out of his way again, but not before Dik Dik managed to once more scrape two cracks into the lens. In his blinded and over-heated state, Dik Dik fell to the ring hard, landing face-down, not moving until the burn of the concentrated light hit his back. Dik Dik tried to crawl from the heat, one arm landing in an existing fire down on the mat. Dik Dik hurriedly stood, shaking his arm as he tried to extinguish the flames. The heat burned at his shoulder again, a sickening hissing sound reaching his ears. Hardening his resolve, Dik Dik leapt up through the concentrated light and punched forwards with all his strength, his Antler Fist successfully shattering Hydrazoa's Aqua Lens. Burned and blinded from his attack, Dik Dik fell limply, his back colliding with a corner-post before rolling to the ground outside the ring.

Terry and Jaeger stared agape at Dik Dik's prostrate form as an IWF official hurried over to assess his condition. After a few seconds, the official held up a hand to Ikeman, who took the microphone once more. The bell rang, leaving Terry and Jaeger stunned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as a result of a knock-out, Dik Dik Van Dik is out of the match," he announced.

"Aw, hell no!" Terry roared, leaping over the top rope and drop-kicking the broken Hydrazoa to the canvas.

Hydrazoa crawled to his corner, where Master DJ slapped at his back and stepped in to face Terry.

"Big mistake boy, you're goin' down!" Terry growled.

"I don't think so," Master DJ smugly replied. "You're out-numbered two to one. You don't stand a chance of winning now."

* * *

**Next Chapter:** The rest of the fight… Okay seriously, in the next chapter, the match concludes to a shock finish that shows us a new side of Jaeger, and quickly changes Mars's mood. **Chapter 19 – Will of the Strong**. 

**A/N(2):** For the Pepero song, follow the link in my profile. The video will automatically play after a second or so. But be warned, it goes on, and on, and on, and on… Also, the little Pepero people should give an idea of the sort of costume Kid intends to wear!!!

Pepero! Pepero! Na-na-na na-na na-na, Pepero!


	19. Will of the Strong

**A/N:** Apologies in advance, I think Jaeger goes a bit OOC in this chapter, but felt it was necessary. Also, this fic is now past the 100K word mark, and just over halfway through the story.

**Recap:** The revamped Bad Blood Tournament kicked off with a four-way match that saw two of the Muscle League eliminated.

* * *

**Chapter 19 – Will of the Strong**

"Big mistake boy, you're goin' down!" Terry growled as Master DJ stepped into the ring to face him.

"I don't think so," Master DJ smugly replied. "You're out-numbered two to one. You don't stand a chance of winning now."

Terry smirked confidently, aiming a spinning heel kick at Master DJ's head. Master DJ ducked the attack, but Terry was prepared for his evasion and grabbed one of Master DJ's arms, locking on an cross arm lock. The pair dropped to the mat, where Terry twisted hard at Master DJ's arm, pushing his feet into Master DJ's head. The disc on Master DJ's wrist began to spin, the sharp edge dangerously to Terry's wrists.

"No more games!" Terry yelled, flipping over and pushing Master DJ's arm into the remnants of a fire still burning on the ring mat.

Terry leapt up and stomped a heel into the disc, shattering it. Master DJ yanked his arm from the fire, trying to shake off the flames. Terry climbed the ropes at the corner, waiting until Master DJ got to his feet before launching himself at Master DJ's back and executing the Buffalo Branding manoeuvre Mars had taught him as a modified version of his own trademark move. Terry quickly leapt back as Master DJ's hair caught fire, barely escaping burning himself. Master DJ staggered to his feet, his face bloodied and engulfed in flames.

"And here's a little somethin' I learned at the Hercules Factory!" Terry said brightly, delivering a roundhouse kick to Master DJ's gut.

As his opponent doubled over, Terry kicked with his other foot, whacking Master DJ in the back of the head, sending him to the mat. Terry then locked on his Texas Tornado Clutch, careful to avoid the flames himself. An IWF official ran to the side of the ring, watching Master DJ for a moment before waving to Ikeman McMadd. The bell rang again, bringing a joyous grin to Terry's face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman announced. "As a result of a submission, Master DJ is out of the match."

Edward stood abruptly from his seat, one fist clenched in front of himself.

"Submission?" he roared.

Mars shamelessly pointed at Edward and laughed as loudly as he could to ensure he would be heard over the cheers of the fans.

"What's wrong, Eddie?" he shouted over. "Your boys can't even take a little pain?"

"I said no submissions!" Edward roared at the ring, ignoring Mars. "I said you will die before you submit! The Anarchists do not submit!"

Terry kicked Master DJ's body from the ring, grinning and nodding at Jaeger, who was clapping his hands.

"That evened the odds a little," Terry said cheerfully, before ducking down to avoid a swipe aimed at his head.

Straightening again and turning a little, Terry saw a rabid Wolfang stumbling around the dying embers of the fires Hydrazoa had created.

"Glad to see ya, Mutley!" Terry said brightly. "Cause I gotta score to settle with ya!"

Terry grabbed Wolfang's tail and swung a foot upwards, kicking hard between Wolfang's legs, drawing a groan from the audience watching on.

"Not so much fun when your opponent fights dirty too, huh dog-breath?" Terry sneered.

"Yeah Terry!" a voice called out, barely audible inside the ring. "Kick his ass!"

Terry turned to the apparent source of the voice, breaking into an enormous, almost goofy, grin as he spotted Trixie and Jacqueline standing inside a cage beyond the audience, waving their arms and jumping up and down.

"Let's do this!" Terry said, nodding at Jaeger.

Wolfang, who was still a little worse for wear after his earlier confrontations with Dik Dik and Jaeger, staggered around and charged loosely at Terry, who dropped low, swinging a sweeping kick at Wolfang's ankles, sending him tripping over towards the corner of the ring, where Jaeger leaned over the top rope and slashed forwards with his Red Rain of Pain, his attack gouging deep into Wolfang's chest from the momentum of his weight falling against Jaeger's hand. Wolfang slid down the ropes and Terry promptly kicked him out of the ring, beckoning the IWF official over.

Terry suddenly found himself on the mat before he heard the official decision on Wolfang, and looking up, he saw an enraged Hydrazoa standing over him. Terry hurriedly rolled out of the way as Hydrazoa tried to stomp a foot into his face, leaping to his feet and bounding out of Hydrazoa's grasp as the ring bell resounded.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman announced. "As a result of a knock-out, Wolfang is out of the match."

The audience began to cheer, and Terry laughed at Hydrazoa, who bared his teeth, his hand morphing into his Ice Sword.

"We've beaten Team Aho before," Hydrazoa growled. "This time we'll destroy you!"

Terry tried to dodge Hydrazoa's blade, but his shoulder was grazed as he moved, the Ice Sword swinging down and severing one of the top ropes in its wake.

"You can't win now it's two on two," Terry said confidently.

"But you are weakened, you will be easy prey!" Hydrazoa retaliated, swinging his blade at Terry's mid-section, successfully tearing open his shirt and slicing a shallow gash into his skin.

"You ain't exactly at the top o' your game!" Terry shot back, eying over Hydrazoa amusedly.

"So it's a battle of who is the fittest," Hydrazoa said with a shrug. "While you and the Muscle League have been playing the King Game and karaoke, we've been training hard. You don't stand a chance against us!"

"Don't go underestimatin' the Muscle League again, ya dumb squid. The will o' the strong is unbreakable, it don't matter how badly ya cheat."

Hydrazoa growled, charging at Terry again. He slashed downwards with his Ice Sword, but Terry caught the blade between his hands, holding the attack back. Terry kicked up a foot at Hydrazoa's mid-section, but his foot merely bounced off of Hydrazoa's gelatinous body. Hydrazoa grinned darkly as the confident look on Terry's face wavered slightly.

"Ice Shield!" Hydrazoa yelled.

Terry yelped, staggering back as his hands slid from Hydrazoa's Ice Sword, which was morphing into a giant shield. Hydrazoa rammed the block of ice forwards, smashing it into Terry's face. Terry staggered back, momentarily stunned from the blow and unable to block the second hit. Terry finally came to his senses as Hydrazoa shot out a third time, ducking down and grabbing an arm around Hydrazoa's arm behind his shield, locking his arm into place and using his other hand to punch Hydrazoa in the chin.

Hydrazoa grunted from the blow, but he began to grin. Terry frowned in confusion, a sickening feeling washing over him as he felt Hydrazoa's arm slither from his hold, followed by the sensation of the Ice Sword gouging into his arm as Hydrazoa pulled his arm back. Terry hurriedly opened his arm and leapt back, looking down to find two gashes, one across his forearm and one over his bicep. Due to the angle he had been holding Hydrazoa, they were particularly deep cuts that were too cold to bleed profusely at first; but soon the blood began to flow down the length of Terry's arm, dripping from his fingertips.

"Damn you," he growled.

Terry hit a spinning heel kick into Hydrazoa's chest, aiming for the area he remembered Kid had uncovered as the location of Hydrazoa's vital organs in their match during the Generation Ex Tournament. Terry's blow did make Hydrazoa stumble back, but Hydrazoa managed to swipe his Ice Sword across Terry's throat before shifting his arm into the Ice Shield and clattering it against Terry's head, sending him to the mat.

Terry lay motionless, drawing another IWF official over. Jaeger stepped into the ring, studying Terry carefully, feeling less than surprised when he heard the bell ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman announced. "As a result of a knock-out, Terry Kenyon is out of the match."

Jaeger looked up at Hydrazoa as two officials pulled Terry from the ring, studying him carefully. Hydrazoa looked quite weary from his efforts so far, but beyond Hydrazoa, Jaeger could see Road Rage, who had not even entered the ring yet. Jaeger cracked his knuckles, walking around the ring as he considered what lay ahead of him. He remembered Mars telling him to show no mercy, and so as soon as Terry and the IWF officials were clear of the ropes, Jaeger charged at Hydrazoa, who leapt out of his path. Jaeger continued past him, bouncing off the ropes and drop-kicking Hydrazoa in the back of the head, causing him to fall face-down to the canvas.

Jaeger grabbed the back of Hydrazoa's head and pulled him to his feet, the distinct sensation of imminent danger alerting his senses, and he ducked, barely avoiding a kick from Road Rage aimed at his head. Hydrazoa swung his Ice Sword around and Jaeger quickly bent backwards, wincing as the Ice Sword colliding with his helmet, severing off the front section of it and liberating a large chunk of his hair. Jaeger tore off the remains of his helmet, throwing it at Hydrazoa and running from his two opponents, spinning around to face them, quickly assessing his options as he realised that he would be forced to fight both foes at once.

"Oh Jaeger, don't forget to follow all the rules," Road Rage said, lifting one leg to commence his Crossing Chaos attack.

Jaeger smirked, readying himself before darting towards Road Rage, allowing his hair to hang over his eyes and obscure most of Road Rage's image. Before either Devil Chojin realised what was happening, Jaeger had chopped through Road Rage's raised leg with his Red Rain of Pain and used Road Rage's leg to whack Hydrazoa in the chest, winding him and sending him staggering back. Road Rage stumbled on one leg, grabbing at the ropes in stunned shock, but Jaeger did not stop.

Using Road Rage's leg like a baseball bat, Jaeger smacked Hydrazoa over the back of the head, sending him staggering back into the centre of the ring, where Jaeger leapt into his path, slicing him open with his Red Rain of Pain. Hydrazoa collapsed in a soggy pile, his eyes glazing over. Jaeger smiled and nodded his head in satisfaction as he heard the bell ring again.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman announced. "As a result of a knock-out, Hydrazoa is out of the match."

Jaeger pushed Hydrazoa's limp form to the edge of the ring with his boot before turning on Road Rage, swinging Road Rage's own leg at him. Road Rage caught the attack, growling angrily at Jaeger.

"How could you, Jaeger?" he snarled. "You were the A Student at the Hercules Factory! Nobody there ever taught you to severe people's limbs and use them as weapons against them!"

"I learned zhis from ze same man who taught your leader everyzhing he knows," Jaeger said smugly. "And I already know your best strategies from our days at ze Hercules Factory."

"I won't let you win!" Road Rage roared, before his head began to spin.

Jaeger watched with wide eyes as Road Rage cut through his own leg that they were both still clinging to. Jaeger looked down at the stump in his hand before looking at the stump in Road Rage's hand and pulling a face at what he saw.

"I'm serious!" Road Rage yelled.

"Vell good," Jaeger said with a shrug, tossing the remains of Road Rage's leg outside the ring. "Because so am I!"

Jaeger aimed his Red Rain of Pain at Road Rage's remaining leg, but Road Rage hopped out of his reach, chopping a hand down into the small of Jaeger's back, taking him off his feet. Jaeger quickly rolled onto his back, kicking up with both feet as Road Rage tried to attack, kicking him back, where he hopped awkwardly before falling into a sitting position. Jaeger stood in front of Road Rage, his hand raised by his face, the red glow of his signature attack creating an eerie pattern of shadows across his features.

"Jaeger, we were friends!" Road Rage tried meekly.

"Ve vere," Jaeger agreed, his tone cold and emotionless. "But you betrayed me: you joined ze DMP!"

Jaeger kicked Road Rage's face, making him fall flat on his back where Jaeger proceeded to slice a line from the top of Road Rage's head downwards, shattering through the metal, glass and plastic of his body. Jaeger leapt back, waiting for an IWF official to assess Road Rage before allowing himself to grin in delight at the sound of the bell.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ikeman announced. "As a result of a knock-out, Road Rage is out of the match. As Jaeger is the last man standing, the winners of this match are the Muscle League team: Jaeger, Dik Dik Van Dik, Terry Kenyon and Wally Tusket!"

A monstrous cheer erupted throughout the stands, and Jaeger punched both fists into the air gleefully.

"You son of a bitch, Jaeger!"

Jaeger yelped as he was suddenly swept off his feet, looking down in alarm to see Mars attached to the lower half of his body, grinning up at him.

"Um…" Jaeger began nervously. "Danke?"

"I knew ya had it in ya, ya little asshole!" Mars said cheerfully.

"Put him down Mars, you look like a twat," Kevin said darkly as he joined them in the ring.

Mars lowered Jaeger to his feet, grabbing a hand over Jaeger's head and ruffling his hair with enough force to make Jaeger stagger around ungracefully.

"I have no doubt who the strongest man around here is!" Jacqueline squealed, running up to Jaeger and throwing her arms around his neck.

Jaeger giggled, wrapping his arms her waist gratefully.

"Where's Terry?" Trixie asked, looking about herself.

"He got taken to the medical bay," Meat told her.

Trixie nodded as Meat pointed in the direction Terry had been carried in, starting towards the ring ropes. Trixie made it halfway across the ring before letting out a scream as she was suddenly yanked off her feet from behind. Wriggling in a panic, she looked over both her shoulders, growling at what she saw.

"What the hell are you doing, Mars?" she demanded. "Put me down!"

"Hey, Terry ain't even conscious, you can have your little reunion later," Mars replied, keeping a tight hold of her. "For now, we wanna know about our girls."

Mars turned Trixie around to face Kid, who was watching her anxiously.

"Roxanne is fine," Trixie told him. "And Kiki is as weird as ever!" she added, looking over her shoulder at Mars. "Put me down and I'll tell you the rest."

"Ya promise?" Mars asked.

"Yes, now put me down!"

Mars lowered Trixie to the ground, where she huffed, straightening out her clothing and smoothing down her hair before continuing.

"Edward was really persuasive," she began, looking around the others nervously. "We all believed what he said at first."

"We thought he cared," Jacqueline added.

"But he didn't," Trixie said, her eyes thinning. "He was horrible to poor Kiki!"

"He did what to Kiki?" Mars roared.

"Calm down!" Trixie scolded him. "Kiki's fine! Now, anyway. You know, I never understood the two of you. I never understood Kiki falling for you during the Generation Ex Tournament, I never understood why she couldn't get over you when you left, and I never understood why she took you back during the Chojin Crown."

"Get to da point," Mars said coldly.

"I understand it now," Trixie said dryly.

"We all fell for Edward's tricks," Jacqueline said quietly. "But not Kiki."

Mars turned to her, a hopeful look lighting up his features.

"She kept arguing back with Edward," Trixie said. "She kept calling him Eddie, even though she knew he hated it, she never doubted any of you guys, not even for a second. And even after we all took Edward's side, even after she saw you behaving like a selfish asshole, she still stood up and told Edward to stuff his offers up his ass, and she told all of us what idiots we were being."

"She made us feel awful," Jacqueline moaned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But she stills loves you every bit as much as she always did," Trixie finished, looking up at Mars.

"Really?" Mars asked softly.

"Of course she does, you bloody great oaf," Kevin grumbled. "Even I could have told you that."

"What about Roxanne?" Kid asked.

"Roxanne misses you," Trixie told him.

"But she doesn't miss your garlic breath or your beef-flavoured farts," Jacqueline added, smirking at Jaeger, who laughed at her remark.

Trixie spotted Marie entering the ring and hurried over to give her a hug and reassure her about Roxanne's safety, calling Jacqueline over to help her. Mars grabbed Jaeger into another bone-crushing bear-hug, ignoring Jaeger's protests entirely. Kevin slowly made his way out of the ring, passing Jacqueline, Trixie and Marie as he went.

"Who's that girl with the scary scars on her face?" he heard Trixie asked Marie.

"Oh, she works for King Muscle," Marie replied.

"What's she doing here then?" Trixie asked. "I think I've seen her before somewhere. That's a pretty nasty face somebody left her with, she isn't even trying to cover it over, either!"

"Cover it over?" Jacqueline echoed. "No make-up job could cover that! If that was me, I would have rather died than live on looking like that."

"You're telling me!" Trixie said. "That's just brutal! Maybe if she was a guy it might be alright, but scars on a woman are just tragic!"

Kevin dropped to the floor outside the ring, turning his head to see Amy standing a short distance from him, silently looking up at the three women inside the ring, her face tightened as though she was suppressing her emotions with a great effort. Glancing back at Jacqueline, Trixie and Marie, Kevin realised that Amy was probably standing close enough to have heard every word of what he had just heard himself.

"Hey, if she's working for Suguru, maybe she could borrow one of his old masks!" Jacqueline quipped.

Trixie laughed at her joke, but Marie shook her head.

"Girls, that's not nice!" she scolded them.

Kevin turned back to where Amy had been standing, but she was no longer there. Turning further, Kevin saw her walking quickly away from the ring. He tilted his head curiously, an idea occurring to him that made him decide to follow her. He started to move, but was stopped abruptly as something collided with his back, sending him falling over forwards. A pair of arms locked around his waist from behind to stop his fall, and turning his head, he saw a ridiculously happy Mars attached to him.

"Let me go, you raving great madman!" Kevin complained.

"I love ya too, Kev!" Mars said, squeezing Kevin tighter.

Kevin groaned as Mars's embrace began to become painful.

"Let me go!" he demanded.

Mars obediently uncoiled his arms from Kevin's waist, but before Kevin could get away from him, Mars grabbed Kevin's masked head in both hands and kissed the side of his mask.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Kevin snapped, slapping Mars's arms away.

"My beautiful girl loves me!" Mars said cheerfully, slapping Kevin on the shoulder with his usual excessive force.

"Kiki is a very small girl," Kevin began slowly, rubbing at his shoulder. "I wonder that she is still alive, living with a great, big, heavy-handed behemoth like you!"

"Let's celebrate dis victory!" Mars suggested, ignoring Kevin's words and grabbing an arm around Kevin's shoulders.

"I'd rather not," Kevin began. "We ought to continue training and pl–"

"Let's have a party!" Mars suggested. "We got our own apartment now, right?"

"It's not our apartment–"

"We can get da restaurant to bring da food and drink! Like room service, only it's in our own apartment! Beautiful!"

"Mars… Mars!"

Kevin sighed in frustration as Mars began yelling out instructions to Jaeger to join him for a party back at Amy's old apartment.

"It's going to be a long night…" Kevin grumbled to himself.

* * *

"I fuckin' love you guys!" Mars said, grabbing an arm around the men sat either side of him. 

"The feeling isn't mutual," Kevin dryly replied, dropping a straw into his beer.

"I love everybody!" Jaeger said, almost falling off his stool.

"Hey Kev," Mars whispered loudly to Kevin. "I think little weiner boy had too much to drink again."

"He's been drinking for ten hours," Kevin flatly replied.

"Huh?" Mars echoed, his voice suddenly so loud, Kevin thought he heard it echo around the interior of his mask.

"You started drinking at eleven," Kevin patiently explained. "It's now nine in the morning."

"Hey, da restaurant opens at eight, we can get breakfast!" Mars said, grinning and looking back and forth between Kevin and Jaeger, who were sat either side of him at the counter.

"No thank you," Kevin said darkly, slotting the straw down through the eye-hole in his mask.

Mars shrugged his shoulders indifferently, turning to Jaeger, who was staggering off of his stool.

"Looks like it's just you an' me, kid!" he said, slapping Jaeger's back hard enough to send him crashing into the sofa. "You're payin'."

Jaeger righted himself, swaying towards Kevin, who did not detect his approach until Jaeger clapped a hand against his shoulder, gripping into Kevin's T-shirt to steady himself.

"Vhy…" Jaeger began. "Kevin, vhy does Kid Muscle call you Shouben Mask?"(1)

"Shouben Mask?" Mars repeated. "But dat would mean…"

The light of realisation slowly dawned upon Mars's face, and he burst out laughing.

"Just get out," Kevin said quietly. "Both of you."

"I don't understand!" Jaeger complained.

"C'mon kid, I'll explain it to ya over some food, yeah?" Mars said, beckoning for Jaeger to follow him.

Kevin waited until he heard the door slam shut before releasing a sigh and sliding his beer aside. Looking about himself, he was silently glad that Amy had left the apartment after all; three drunk Chojins could apparently do quite a lot of damage in just one night. Kevin knew that the neighbours had not complained out of fear, but he did wonder if Hiroshi would change the locks when they all left the apartment next.

Kevin hopped off his stool, taking a quick glance at the sitting room – which almost looked as though it had been turned inside out – before heading into the kitchen. Having not slept all night, Kevin was tired, and as he allowed himself a yawn, he heard the scraping of stubble against metal, reminding him that he probably looked even worse than he felt. He lazily pushed the empty glasses and dirty dishes that lay around him in the general direction of the sink before turning and heading towards the bedroom, another yawn escaping his throat.

Mars had tried to lay claim to Amy's bedroom after she had left the apartment, but it was battle he had lost to Kevin, who had been against Mars sleeping there for more than one reason. The mattress was a little too soft and indulgent for Kevin's liking, but he was so tired that morning he was beyond caring. As he walked around the bed, Kevin inadvertently bashed his hip against a set of drawers stood by the end of the bed, shifting them slightly from their original position. With a small sigh, Kevin turned and grabbed the offending piece of furniture in both hands, ready to shift it back; but something caught the corner of Kevin's eye and he stopped. Leaning over to one side, Kevin frowned down at the white square on the floor, his curiosity shortly besting him as he found himself releasing the set of drawers and crouching down to reach for the foreign object.

Kevin slowly stood up, looking down at the item in his hand. It was clearly the back of a photograph, but he was a little concerned how it had gotten to be where it was, and he was not entirely sure he wanted to know what it depicted; Kevin still lived in fear of the day Mars or Kiki took a photograph of him naked in the shower and auctioned it off on eBay. However he eventually decided that he had no memory of Mars having a camera the night before, and consequently he found the courage to turn the picture over.

Kevin slowly moved to the side of the bed, sitting down onto it, his eyes never leaving the image he held between his fingers. There were many, many things wrong with what he saw, but the idea that there was something that he was not quite seeing in the picture bothered Kevin the most.

The photograph was of Amy and a man, taken in what appeared to be another country – Kevin could not be sure where exactly. The picture was clearly several years old, as not only did Amy look younger but also her face was unmarked. Kevin therefore reasoned that it must have been taken before he met Amy and before she even moved to Japan. She looked uncharacteristically happy, standing with one arm around a slightly dubious looking man, her other arm supporting a bouquet of flowers so vast, Kevin felt ill just looking at them.

"It's just a picture," Kevin grumbled, flicking it aside and kicking off his boots.

But as Kevin swung his legs up onto the bed, he could not help but think that it was more than just a picture, mainly because thinking about it was starting to make him angry. Kevin began trying to remove his mask, his anger multiplying as he found it locked onto his head. He briefly considered running down to the restaurant to enlist Mars's assistance, but decided against it, instead lying onto the bed on his back, trying to ignore how suffocating the mask was when he was feeling tired and a little less than brilliant.

It was the flowers, he told himself as he closed his eyes to attempt sleep. It was just the fact that Amy liked flowers, and she had been holding flowers in that picture, and she had even had the nerve to look happy about it.

Or maybe it was the obnoxiously happy expression she was wearing. She was an angry upstart of a woman who only ever smirked sarcastically and condescendingly, and yet she was smiling sweetly in that picture, which was entirely unlike her.

Perhaps it was the boy in the picture with her. The distinct aura of wannabe bad boy he had about him, the look on his face, and the fact that Amy actually appeared to like him. She was probably only smiling because he was with her, and he had probably been the idiot who had given her the ridiculously showy mountain of flowers that she was carrying.

Which probably meant that he was Amy's boyfriend.

Which was entirely irrelevant anyway, because what Amy did with her life was none of Kevin's concern, just so long as she did not commence stalking him and annotating his life into her private diaries again.

And besides, unless the boy had eloped to Muscle Planet, he was clearly no longer Amy's boyfriend.

Not that it mattered at all.

Kevin stared at the roof above his head, his brain going blank for a few seconds before mocking thoughts danced through his mind, leaving him growling in frustration.

"Bloody woman!" he snarled, grabbing up a pillow and squashing it to his masked face. "I just want to be left alone!" he added, his voice even more muffled than usual beneath the pillow.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** Kevin and Amy have a long talk but Amy doesn't quite get around to telling Kevin what she meant to, and the stage is set for Kid Muscle and Checkmate's rematch against Death Angel and Sprite (on Pepero Day). **Chapter 20 – Finding the Words**.

1 – "Shouben" (or shoben) is Japanese for piss, and sounds a little like the Japanese pronunciation of Kevin (Kebin). For true die-hard fans, yes, this is the joke from the subbed anime.


	20. Finding the Words

**A/N:** This was hard. This was really, really hard. I had to take Kevin (mostly) seriously to write this chapter – and that's got to be a first!!!

Really, really, extended lemon in this chapter. Took me almost a week to write this, because I can't write lemons in one sitting, and the longer they are, the longer it takes me – another excuse for tardy updates!

**Recap:** The Muscle League defeated The Anarchists in the four-way match, freeing Trixie and Jacqueline, Mars and Jaeger celebrated the victory and Kevin tried to get some sleep.

* * *

**Chapter 20 – Finding the Words**

"Sleep out in the hall!" Kevin yelled, turning onto his stomach and sandwiching his masked head between two pillows.

It seemed like less than an hour since Mars and Jaeger had left the apartment for breakfast, but as the window at Kevin's side showed a setting sun, Kevin realised he must have slept a lot longer than he thought. Sighing and trying to sleep a little more, Kevin was once more disturbed from rest by a knocking on the apartment door, this time faster and more forceful.

"You really can't take a hint, can you?" Kevin yelled, sitting up onto his knees and throwing the pillows out over either side of the bed.

Again, there was an increasingly urgent knock at the door. Kevin cursed without restraint all the way to the front door, flicking open the lock and yanking the door with almost enough force to liberate it from its hinges.

"I'm sorry if you didn't want to see me right now, but I really, really have to talk to you, and I knew you'd be alone right now."

Kevin froze on the spot, his eyes locked onto Amy, who looked unusually subdued as she hovered in the hallway.

"Can I come in?" she asked carefully.

"It's your flat," Kevin said blankly, stepping back to allow her to pass.

"Well, not any more it's not," she said with a shrug.

Kevin closed the door behind her, wincing as she whimpered out a sound that almost sounded like a kitten attempting to curse.

"What happened in here?" she asked as Kevin joined her in the sitting room.

"Mars," Kevin replied. "And Jaeger."

Amy slowly nodded her understanding before turning to Kevin.

"I've tortured myself about this all day, and I still can't really find the words, but…" she began, tugging one of her sleeves over one hand nervously. "When I saw Mars fall asleep face-down on a swing in Beverly Park, I knew he wouldn't make it back here tonight, so I thought that maybe…"

Kevin cleared his throat nervously, suddenly aware that something was distinctly amiss. Amy was avoiding looking directly at him, and as she began tugging stray strands of hair down over her face, an odd concept suddenly became clear to Kevin; the difference between Amy in the picture he had found, Amy from High Park Ladies' Club and the Amy stood before him now was in her general image. She was no longer the girl dressed in mildly provocative clothing with her hair swept back from her face, but rather the girl swamped in baggy clothing, the hair framing her forehead hanging loosely around and over her face. She had looked good at Disneyland because she had almost looked the way she once had; but she appeared to have reverted to the new, duller Amy.

"Kevin, have you been drinking?" she asked, her eyes lifting to peek at Kevin through her hair.

"No…" Kevin slowly replied. "Not since this morning."

Amy rolled her eyes, nodding her head. She tugged at her sleeve again before slowly walking around the sitting room, pausing to study anything she found of interest. She appeared largely unimpressed by what she saw, but then Kevin saw a smile appear on her face, and she leaned over, plucking something from the arm of the sofa.

"Kevin?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

Kevin baulked at the sight of a black leather thong dangling from her fingers.

"I know this isn't Mars's, cause "he don't wear underwear"," she said, her smile widening.

"Well it certainly isn't mine!" Kevin quickly replied. "It must be Jeager's!"

"And why, pray tell, did Jaeger remove his underpants in here?" Amy asked, tilting her head to one side.

"I don't know, why don't you ask him yourself?"

Amy shrugged, flinging the offending object aside and continuing her tour, nodding at the mountain of dirty crockery Kevin had dumped by the sink before slipping into the bedroom. Kevin darted after her, skidding to a halt as she turned to him questioningly.

"Nothing," he said casually.

"Nothing what?" she asked, thinning her eyes. "I didn't ask you anything."

Kevin cleared his throat again, trying his best to look at ease as Amy looked about herself. Kevin had just managed to compose himself when he suddenly felt his chest tighten again as Amy spun around and sat down onto the edge of the bed, hunching over her shoulders and tugging at her sleeve again.

"Wh-what are you doing here, anyway?" he asked her cautiously, edging closer to her. "You said you knew I would be alone, so obviously you came here to see me…"

"Yeah, that's right," she said softly, pulling at her hair again.

Kevin sat down quietly at her side, fighting the urge to demand that she explain herself.

"I just don't know how to say this to you…" she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Kevin watched her tug at her sleeve again before balling her left hand into a fist; but not before he noticed something on the palm of her hand.

"What was that?" he asked quietly.

"What was what?" she asked innocently, turning her head towards him.

"This," Kevin said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her fingers open with his other hand.

"What are you doing?" she yelped.

Kevin looked down at her palm, tilting his head from side to side as he inspected what he found.

"It's nothing," Amy grunted, snatching her hand back and tugging at her right sleeve again before closing her left fist over again.

Kevin reached for the release mechanism on his mask, fumbling around as he once more found it to be elusive.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Amy sighed, reaching up her hands and snapping something aside, the mask loosening around Kevin's head.

"Why does everybody know how to do that?" Kevin muttered, removing his mask and placing it on the bed at his side. "It's um… It's moderately impressive. How did you do it?"

Amy turned to Kevin, eying him curiously. He turned to her, keeping his eyes on hers as he took hold of her wrist and opened out her fist again, turning her palm towards her face and pointing at the two short, parallel purples lines that ran along the base of her middle finger.

"What are you talking about?" she grumbled, tugging at her hand. "And what the hell is wrong with you anyway? Couldn't you at least shave this morning?"

Kevin touched a hand to his face, a frown flashing across his features as he felt the bristle of his unshaven cheek against his fingers.

"I was just curious," he said with a shrug, deciding to ignore his own state of dishevelment. "Seemed like you were trying to hide it. Are you ashamed of it?"

"Yes actually, I am!" she snapped, yanking her hand from him and turning her head away from him.

Kevin craned his neck to look over her head, seeing her once more tug hair over her face, pull her sleeve over her right hand and clench her left hand closed.

"So what happened?" Kevin asked.

"I cut myself!" Amy blurted out, turning to face him, her face creased with unspoken anger. "I just… Cut myself."

"Deliberately?"

"Of course not!"

"What about that one?"

Amy turned to her right hand, which was mostly concealed under her sleeve.

"Is that from shattering a window with your fist?" Kevin asked, reaching over and grabbing her hand, sliding up her sleeve before she could stop him.

"I just got the stitches out last week!" Amy snapped irritably, trying to wrestle her hand from his grasp.

Kevin nodded, releasing her hand.

"I know what you think," Amy said darkly.

Kevin turned to her, but she was looking at the ground.

"I'm a disaster," she continued, her tone still flat. "I did this on a potato slicer," she said, holding up her left hand. "A right-handed potato slicer. I was trying to grate ginger, I thought I could save time using the slicer, and I couldn't find a left-handed one. I never even felt it I just saw the blood in the food. I did it working here."

Amy turned to Kevin, arching her eyebrows.

"Here?" he asked, pointing at the floor. "At this restaurant?"

Amy nodded.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone, which is the worst part," she confessed. "But I'm really useless with first aid, which is kinda stupid, working with sharp blades and open flames all the time."

She shook her head.

"So really, this happened because I'm stupid, clumsy and reckless," she said holding out her palm. "And this happened because I'm stupid, clumsy and reckless," she added, holding up her right fist. "My best assistant wanted to throw a wok through the window, but I used my hand because I refused to get a scratch on my favourite pan. Never mind the fact that the bloody thing was probably scorched beyond repair by the fire anyway!"

She sighed softly.

"And, funnily enough, this also happened because I'm stupid, clumsy and reckless."

Kevin watched Amy drag two fingers over the scars on her face. As her hand fell away from her face she smiled, shaking her head.

"Time makes fools of us all," she said.

"Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us?" Kevin offered with a small smile.

"Something like that, yeah," Amy replied, smiling back at him. "Oh Kevin, what are the two us doing back here?"

"You were the one who came here to see me," Kevin pointed out.

"Yeah…" Amy said, hanging her head before Kevin could see her reaction to his words.

"And I disagree with your little theory," he said, lifting Amy's wrist and turning her hand over to expose the small scars on her palm once more. "You see, I don't think that this happened because you're stupid, or clumsy or reckless."

Amy moved her eyes to him, her head still low, her eyebrows flickering curiously.

"This says to me that you are determined and resourceful," he said.

Amy afforded him a small smirk, one eyebrow twisting upwards.

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Yes," Kevin said with a nod of his head. "You were determined to get your job done on time, and you were trying to find a way to do that, but unfortunately it didn't quite work out."

Amy laughed, shaking her head.

"But your determination and your resourcefulness are part of you and you shouldn't be ashamed of that or try to hide it away."

Amy's face dropped as Kevin took her hand to his face, gently kissing his lips against her scar.

"And this," he said, gently lowering her hand before picking up her right hand. "Tells me that you are brave and honourable," he continued, smoothing his thumbs over the cuts on the back of her hand. "You put yourself at risk for the sake of those around you. You wilfully injured yourself, built an escape rope and let everyone else leave ahead of you."

"Well…" Amy said, her bottom lip quivering a little and her eyes dropping from Kevin's. "I was just…"

"Why would you be ashamed of being an honourable person?" Kevin asked, before softly kissing the cuts on her hand.

Amy's head snapped around, her eyes watching him with childlike curiosity, her expression one that Kevin had never seen her wear before.

"And this just confirms that you are determined, resourceful, brave and honourable," Kevin continued, releasing her hand and touching one hand to her cheek, slowly dragged his thumb over each of her scars in turn.

"K-Kevin…" she said through a shuddering gasp, her entire body shivering against his touch.

"I was angry that you spied on me during my time with the DMP," Kevin said gently. "Because I knew you would get hurt. But another thing about you is that you are, of course, inexcusably stubborn and headstrong, and there was no telling you. You were on a mission to save the world from the vileness of the DMP, but you really didn't know what you were up against. You never look before you leap. If you did, I'm sure you wouldn't have aimed yourself into my arms the night Edward and his gang ruined Kid Muscle's wedding."

Amy let out a small laugh, a tear escaping one of her eyes.

"Honestly woman, I could swear that you are trying to start your own ludicrously pathetic romantic affair with me."

Amy frowned, eyeing Kevin questioningly, at which he smiled, arching his eyebrows.

"Well you do keep bumping into me, sometimes literally, and you did actually fall into my arms at Mantaro's wedding…"

Amy shook her head, her mouth opening as if she were about to answer Kevin, but instead she dipped her head, fresh tears escaping from her eyes. Kevin reached up his other hand, wiping away her tears and smoothing her hair back from her face, which made her look up at him, looking a little alarmed as she did so.

"Stop hiding behind your hair," he said flatly. "It makes your accusations about me hiding behind a mask really hypocritical."

"You…" she said weakly, a small smile flickering on her face.

"And just one last thing Amy," Kevin said quietly.

"Oh?" she responded, tilting her head slightly as she waited for him to continue.

"Don't ever stop bumping into me, okay?"

Kevin leaned forwards and kissed Amy's scar at the side of her nose, slowly pulling back as she made a whimpering noise.

"You're much nicer when you have a hang-over," she said softly, before laughing a little as Kevin pretended to look annoyed at her.

"You're much nicer when you don't talk," Kevin flatly replied. "And I think I just found a good way to keep you quiet…"

"Oh?" Amy snorted, swiping her sleeves at her cheeks to clear the tears she had shed. "And what would tha–"

Amy squeaked as Kevin grabbed the back of her neck and swooped down on her, pressing his lips against hers. He expected her to shove him off as she had done the day before his scheduled match at Disneyland, but instead she plunged her fingers into his hair at either side of his head, gently drawing them down the length of his hair; which was a uniquely pleasant sensation until her fingers became tangled in his sleep-knotted hair.

"Ow," he moaned, pulling back from her and helping her untangle her fingers.

"I'm sorry," she said gently.

"Don't apologise, this is Mars's fault," Kevin said plainly as he finished freeing one of her hands.

"Mars?" Amy asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Everything in my life that goes badly can be directly attributed to Mars," Kevin said, freeing Amy's other hand.

"That sounds like you're making excuses for…" Amy began, her voice trailing off and her eyes wandering upwards in thought. "Actually, that probably makes sense."

Kevin nodded as she looked directly at him again. She grinned, touching a hand to his cheek.

"Are you trying to emulate Nick Hasler's look in his video for _I Think She Knows_?" she asked, curling her fingers to drag her fingernails over the covering of hair on his face.

"Oh, what?" Kevin scoffed, pulling a face at her. "Easy to see you've been living on another planet, that song is at least two years old…"

Amy laughed, her eyes growing wide.

"Oh my gosh Kevin, you just said something funny!" she said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"You're not the only one who can be a smart-arse, you know."

"You're a mardy tart Kevin Mask."

"What did you just call me?"

"Well I figured one of us ought to be name-calling by now."

"That's pleasant."

"I'm your guest here, and you couldn't even clean up a little for me coming here? I mean, aside from the fallout of the apparent ruckus that occurred last night, you haven't even shaved, or taken a brush through your hair."

"I don't own a hairbrush, I'm not a girl."

"So what, you never brush your hair? That's disgusting, you have to brush your hair! That's how all the dead hairs get removed!"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders indifferently, but Amy shook her head, a determined look appearing on her face.

"That's not acceptable," she said firmly. "It'll get all knotted and you'll have to get it cut short."

"And that would break your heart," Kevin said quietly.

"It would actually," Amy replied.

Kevin met her eyes questioningly, surprised to find her smiling warmly at him.

"Mars has a hairbrush," he said slowly. "He bought it because it has a mirror on the back of it. He likes to talk to his reflection."

"Like a bird you mean?" Amy asked.

"Like a bird, yes," Kevin confirmed.

Amy giggled into her sleeve.

"I hope he's not too much like a bird," she recovered. "My grandmother had a budgie that used to get amorous with a plastic model budgie they kept in its cage."

"If Mars starts humping mannequins I'll be sure to let you know," Kevin replied.

Amy laughed out loud, shaking her head.

"Poor Mars," she said, standing up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Kevin asked as she headed towards the door.

"To find the hairbrush," she called over her shoulder.

Kevin stood up at which she stopped and turned on the spot.

"Stay where you are, I'll be back," she said.

"Okay."

Kevin sat back down, feeling oddly happy to know that she wanted to keep him in the bedroom. He was still confused as to why she had specifically wanted to spend time with him alone, but he did not intend to question it again, least of all when he had discovered that it meant that he was free to kiss her without Mars interrupting them again.

"Now I would say that this won't hurt…" Amy said as she returned, twirling a hairbrush in her hands. "But it probably will."

Kevin watched her curiously as she approached him, wondering how she had managed to find the brush so quickly amongst the bedlam Mars and Jaeger had created throughout the apartment.

"What do you plan to do with it?" he asked her suspiciously.

Amy rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, I wasn't suggesting anything kinky," she groaned.

"What?" Kevin asked, feeling suddenly even more confused.

"I was just going to brush your hair for you."

Kevin paused, still wondering what he had said to make her accuse him of crude thoughts; but his mind quickly snapped back to the situation at hand as Amy crawled onto the bed, moving around to his back. He stiffened on instinct at the sensation of another body close behind him; a lifetime of fighting had left him with an inability to trust anybody standing anywhere that he could not readily see them. He turned his head a little, looking back over his shoulder to see that Amy was kneeling behind him and she was biting onto the handle of the hairbrush. He opened his mouth to warn her that she really ought not to put anything of Mars's into her mouth but stopped as she reached her hands towards him, her fingers gently gathering his hair and easing it over his shoulders and down his back.

Kevin turned away from her, suddenly no longer caring if she was hidden from his view or not. Her touch was unusually light, her fingers occasionally sliding over his neck as she arranged his hair down his back. It was the strangest feeling to Kevin, and he found himself tensing so much that his jaw began to ache from clenching his teeth together so tightly.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked casually, smoothing her hands down his hair.

"Fine," Kevin answered through his teeth, which were apparently locked together.

"Good," Amy replied.

Kevin twitched as he felt the brush in his hair, his body automatically readying itself for pain. But the sensation of the brush and Amy's hands through his hair was not exactly a painful experience. It was something different, something vaguely familiar, something that Kevin could barely recognise as a sensation that had lain dormant in his being for so long he had almost forgotten about it altogether.

"That feels nice," he said mechanically, his jaws relaxing enough to allow him to speak a little more freely.

"You have lovely hair, you should take better care of it," Amy replied. "In fact, the same could be said for the rest of you."

Kevin turned his head sharply, causing Amy to yelp out in complaint.

"Careful, you'll rip your hair out doing that!" she scolded him.

"What did you just say?" he asked, ignoring her complaint.

"I said keep your head forward," she said firmly, grabbing his head in her hands and turning it around.

Kevin froze, his own mind screaming at him as Amy continued brushing his hair, oblivious to his pains. When had it ever been acceptable for someone to grab him and physically force him to do something?

"Life's about balance," Amy said softly, her voice almost a whisper. "That's something you never seem to have learned. You worked so hard during the Chojin Crown, but I doubt you took the time to relax and enjoy life a little afterwards."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked, pulling a face even though he was still faced away from her.

"It's okay to enjoy yourself, you know," she replied. "And it's okay to like people. It's not a weakness. I've never seen Jaeger shine so brightly as he did yesterday. He was fighting for his girlfriend and with the support of his friends."

"The Power of Friendship…" Kevin groaned.

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's a cliché."

Kevin growled as his head was jerked back from a sharp tug at his hair.

"It is not a cliché," Amy corrected him, before resuming her gentle approach to brushing his hair.

"Who won the Chojin Crown?" Kevin asked, smiling smugly to himself.

"Some guy who was being supported all the way by a good friend and, inadvertently, his own father."

Kevin mouthed out the word "what?" silently glad that Amy could not see him as his face flickered through expressions of anger and frustration as he realised that, as much as he did not want to admit to it, Amy was right.

"When was the last time you laughed until it hurt?"

Kevin pulled a face again, unsure he even understood the question.

"I thought so," Amy concluded when he did not answer her. "That's too bad, you don't know what you're missing."

Kevin snorted, readying himself to deliver a witty retort; but again words failed him as Amy suddenly moved around, straddling his legs and sitting down into his lap.

"Wh-what are you…" he began faintly.

"I know you think that Kid Muscle is just an idiot, but he's good fun," Amy said, ignoring Kevin's awkwardness and brushing his hair back from his face.

"K-Kid Mu… What are you… What are…"

Kevin stopped himself, deciding that silence was probably the better option. Amy eventually tossed the hairbrush onto the bed and sat back for a moment before raking her fingers through Kevin's hair. He watched her intently, an odd sensation washing over him as her fingertips moved over his scalp.

"Doesn't that feel better?" she asked, tilting her head and smiling gently.

"Yes," Kevin answered, the word leaving his mouth without any conscious thought.

"You seem really tense," Amy said softly, sliding her hands down his neck and over his chest. "Are you worried about the rest of the tournament?"

Amy lifted her eyes to Kevin's. He made to answer her, but his jaw clamped shut again as she moved her hands back up his chest to his shoulders. He slowly lowered his eyes over her, stiffening in shock as he saw just how close she was to his groin.

"Um…" he said nervously, looking up at her again. "So… Wh-why did you come here tonight?"

"Oh Kevin," she moaned, her face twisting.

Before Kevin could decipher the look on her face, she slipped her hands over his shoulders and pulled herself flush against his body, wrapping her legs around his back to enclose herself against him entirely. Kevin sat stiffly in her embrace, unsure of what to do next as she rested her chin on his shoulder by the nape of his neck.

"I don't know what I want to do Kevin," she whispered.

Kevin had thought he could not feel any more confused, but apparently he could. Amy began gently stroking a hand over the top of his head, and suddenly an overwhelmingly clear memory of his mother cradling him in her arms and telling him bedtime stories flooded his mind. Kevin slowly began to relax his muscles, the realisation dawning on him that nobody had ever touched him in an affectionate way apart from his mother; and those days had ended so long ago.

"Amy," he said quietly, carefully wrapping his arms around her back. "I don't actually care why you came here. Just stay with me."

"Oh Kevin," she wailed. "That's just it!"

Amy pulled back from him, taking his face in her hands and looking straight into his eyes.

"Kevin that's what I have to talk to you about," she said.

"Good," Kevin said, leaning forwards to gently kiss her lips.

"Kevin…" she mumbled against his kiss. "You're not… Listening to me…"

"Talk later," Kevin growled, before grabbing handfuls of Amy's sweater and kissing her forcefully, almost wanting to laugh as she moaned against him in surprise.

Amy's hands slowly slid from Kevin's face to his shoulders as they kissed, where he felt the heels of her hands press particularly firmly against him. After a few moments of enduring the sensation, Kevin pulled back from Amy, frowning at her curiously.

"Lie down, you idiot!" she said, pushing his shoulders harder.

Kevin allowed her to push him down onto his back and pin him to the bed, the transferral of power feeling unusually liberating to him. Amy smiled at him before adjusting herself to lie on top of him to continue their kiss. Kevin relaxed into her ridiculously soft bed, closing his eyes and allowing her to direct him, losing himself in the feeling of utter relaxation and ease that came with her affections.

She wriggled a little against him, drawing an involuntary groan from Kevin as her hips ground against his, her hands fumbling with the material of his T-shirt. He groaned again as her hands slid under his T-shirt, moving up his chest, her fingertips lightly pushing into his skin. She ended their kiss, leaving Kevin feeling a little frustrated, frowning at her questioningly as she smiled down at him, massaging her fingertips against his chest.

"Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Kevin's eyes dropped to her neck as she exposed a large area of it with the movement of her head. A blind animal instinct overtook him and he grabbed her shoulders, throwing her off of him and onto her back, clambering onto her and biting into her neck. She yelped out, gripping into his shoulders, her hands still beneath his T-shirt.

"Kevin!" she cried.

Kevin sat up long enough to literally rip his T-shirt from his body before dropping back onto her and aiming for her neck again.

"Kevin!" she said sharply, putting a hand on his forehead and one over his mouth to stop him. "Don't be so rough!"

Kevin moved his eyes to the marks he had left on her neck, silently wondering why he found the sight of it vaguely exciting, the urge to bite her again becoming stronger than ever.

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed.

Amy moved her hands around his back, pulling him down into a hug. Kevin rested for a moment, allowing her to hold onto him; but as one of her legs curled around his and slid upwards, he was overtaken once more by raw emotion, moving his lips to the mark he had made on her neck, kissing gently at it. When she moaned pleasantly at his action, Kevin continued, gripping his hands at her sweater, his own strength betraying him as he began to tear the material, exposing sections of her bare skin. The sensation of Amy winding her other leg around him caused Kevin's hands to jerk outwards and he pulled back in shock, finding Amy's sweater in pieces in his hands.

"Oops," he muttered, looking down at her nervously.

"Ha, now who's trying to start a romantic affair?" she said with a grin. "Literally tearing off clothes beats falling from a window."

Kevin shrugged before dropping down and burying his face into her chest, causing her to yelp and then, to Kevin's confusion and indignation, laugh.

"What is so funny?" he asked darkly, lifting his head to look at her.

"Your stubble is tickling me!" she giggled.

"Well I'm not leaving this room until I…"

He paused, licking his lips nervously.

"Until you what, Kevin?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair and grinning at him playfully.

"Well…" he began, his mind failing to offer any sensible words to get him out of his awkward predicament.

Amy smiled, dragging her fingers down his chest to the waistband of his jeans. Kevin looked down, feeling more than a little alarmed as he watched her unfasten his jeans and slide her hands inside them, easing them down. Kevin looked up at her face, the suggestive smirk she wore bringing a smile to his face.

"Fine then," he said sliding back from her and removing his jeans, tossing them aside. "But let's at least make this fair."

Amy screamed as he grabbed her sweatpants and tugged them from her body, throwing them over his shoulder. She moaned out a noise of indignation, but did not move from her position sprawled on the bed in nothing more than her underwear. Kevin pounced back onto her, quickly finding himself lost in a kiss and a tangle of limbs as she wound herself around him again.

"Holy shit Kev, what gives?"

Kevin and Amy turned their heads, both glaring with wide eyes at Mars, who had somehow materialised in the room, standing close by where they lay, his head tilted over, frowning at the two of them wrapped up in each other on the bed.

"M-Mars…" Kevin muttered.

"Is dis even legal?" Mars asked, his face twisting. "Kev, da girl is a horse! Dat's like inter-species relations!"

Amy screamed out, pushing at Kevin. Kevin rolled off of her and she promptly wrapped herself up in the duvet, concealing herself from them both.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Kevin demanded, staggering to his feet to confront Mars.

"Your words say you ain't happy to see me Kev, but your body says somethin' different," Mars replied with a cocky smirk, holding a hand out towards Kevin.

Kevin looked down, gasping in alarm as he saw a distinct bulge threatening the integrity of the material of his boxer shorts.

"Gimme that!" he snapped, grabbing at the duvet and pulling it in front of himself.

"Give it back!" Amy yelled, tugging at the duvet as she tried to keep herself hidden.

Mars smiled, folding his arms and watching as they tugged back and forth at the duvet until it tore apart, a fountain of white feathers bursting up into the air. Kevin and Amy glared at each other as the feathers fluttered around them, exchanging looks of anger and disgust before both turning to glower at Mars.

"Mars, get the hell out of here!" Kevin yelled at him.

"Hey, dis is my apartment too," Mars argued back.

"I never interrupt you when you're… Doing things with that green-haired little menace!" Kevin growled.

"Kev, we gotta tournament goin' on here," Mars flatly replied. "Dis is unprofessional. You're da leader of da Muscle League, you gotta stay focussed here."

"Mars…" Kevin snarled, flinging aside a fistful of feathers and marching up to Mars. "Shut-up and get out. Because tonight either I am getting laid or you are getting flayed. Capisce?"

Mars grinned amusedly at Kevin's words, but Amy was considerably less pleased, leaping to her feet on the bed.

"Hey, I didn't just come here to have sex with you, you know!" she shouted at Kevin.

Kevin turned to her, narrowing his eyes at the sight of her standing with her hands on her hips, her hair loose and fallen over her shoulders, her confident stance loosing some of its impact as she was still wearing no more than her underwear.

"Oh God, why?" Kevin asked. "You're not having your woman's period, are you?"

Amy squeaked, scowling at Kevin angrily.

"What the hell?" she roared. "It's not a woman's period, you idiot! My God, you always have to ruin everything by saying something stupid!"

"Hey toots, you got a not bad rack for a skinny chick," Mars said to her.

"And you can just kiss the fattest part of my arse, bird-face!" Amy snapped at him.

"Well now, dat's a bit tough," Mars said solemnly. "Cause your ass has got a lotta fat parts, and I don't really wanna go lookin' for which one is da fattest."

"Get out of here Mars," Kevin growled.

"Forget it, I'm leaving," Amy said coldly, leaping from the bed and storming past Mars.

"You wanna walk da streets in your underwear?" Mars asked her, watching her go.

"Amy!" Kevin called after her, hurriedly gathering up her clothing. "Amy, wait!"

"It's fine Kevin," she said as he met her in the hallway. "Buy yourself another coat, I'm taking this one."

Kevin watched dumbly as she wrapped herself up in his trench-coat, which looked even more ludicrously huge on her frame than it had on Mars.

"Goodbye Kevin," she said, her voice suddenly softer. "Take care."

"Take care?" Kevin repeated. "What do you… Mean…"

Kevin stared at the door, which Amy had left through halfway through his question. He could vaguely hear her feet hurrying down the stairs, the realisation that the supreme wonder of the moment he had been enjoying had ended and was not about to restart slowly washing over him.

"Hey Kev, what are ya standin' around for?" Mars asked, slapping Kevin's shoulder as though to remind him that his life of physical contact resulting in pain had returned. "I'm hungry here, fix me some food already."

"I hate you Mars," Kevin said quietly. "I finally find the right words to say to her, and you have to ruin it for me. Again! You're a shit."

"Hey, dat just ain't nice!" Mars protested.

Kevin started for the kitchen, and Mars found his smile again.

"I'll have some noodles, yeah?" he called after him.

Kevin muttered something that sounded extremely offensive and entirely unrepeatable, but Mars merely shrugged it off.

"Hey dere handsome," Mars said with a smile as he caught his reflection in a mirror hanging by the bedroom doorway. "What's a guy like you doin' in a dump like dis?"

Mars's smile dropped as Kevin growled out something about bad manners and bird-like mannerisms.

"Ooh, somebody ain't happy!" Mars muttered to his reflection.

* * *

"Everything has been fixed and cleaned or upgraded. We even had a nice flat screen installed on this wall so that you could all watch the broadcasts of the rest of the Bad Blood Tournament."

Belinda smiled at the screen admiringly before turning to look back.

"So much to do! After Mantaro's victory and the end of the tournament, we have a wedding feast to re-host for a start," she said with a sigh. "And this time there won't be any interruptions!"

"I sure hope not."

"I've got a whole team planning everything for Mantaro and Roxanne's return, and now that you're back, we can start getting things going. I'm sorry you couldn't stay on Earth long enough to watch Mantaro's fight live, but you can watch it here on this screen, and the final round too."

Belinda smiled as she held her hands out to the television; but the person behind her was looking at the ground.

"So what happened with Kevin Mask?" Belinda asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Amy's head snapped up and she stared at Belinda with wide eyes, her face flushing.

"I-I don't know what you mean…" she said nervously.

"I heard you were the girl Kevin Mask had a relationship with during his DMP days," Belinda explained.

"That's not true!" Amy hurriedly replied. "There was never anything between us… At least…"

Belinda frowned as Amy lowered her head again, hiding her face.

"I always had a happy memory of Kevin from those days," she said to her feet. "And that's all it was ever meant to be: a happy memory."

Belinda nodded her head.

"I understand," she said gently. "And we're certainly glad to have you back here at Muscleham Palace."

Amy lifted her head to smile at Belinda.

"I'm glad to be back," she said brightly. "And everything looks great, the kitchen is even better than ever!"

Amy looked about herself cheerfully.

"And I will enjoy watching Kid's victory on the new TV," she added, indicating the giant screen mounted on the back wall.

Belinda watched Amy for a moment before the sickeningly forced smile on her face began to get on her nerves.

"Amy, do you want to talk about it?" she offered.

"Talk about what?" Amy asked in mock innocence. "Mantaro?"

"No, Kevin," Belinda replied, thinning her features. "Are you okay?"

"It was just that…" Amy began, before turning her head away from Belinda again. "I couldn't even get the words out… I just wanted the chance to say goodbye, and I messed that up too."

"Kevin isn't the sort of man who likes people around him," Belinda said. "Not like Mantaro. The exact opposite of Mantaro, in fact. Robin Mask could be the same sometimes. They're not bad people, it's just that they're not really "people" people…"

"It's fine," Amy lied, forcing another smile and turning back to Belinda. "I'm fine. I was fine before Kid's wedding, and I'll be fine again now. I just never expected to meet Kevin again, and when I did it was… Weird… But it's over now. I have a job to do here, and Kevin has a job to do on Earth."

"That's right," Belinda replied. "So why don't you have an early night, and tomorrow we can get started on preparations for the big celebration?"

Amy nodded, turning from Belinda to hide the tears forming in her eyes.

"Alright then," Belinda said cheerfully. "I'll leave you to it."

Amy nodded again, waiting until Belinda had left the kitchen before sitting up onto one of the worktops and dropping her face into her hands.

"I never even liked him anyway," she whispered to herself. "He always said the wrong thing, he was rude, insensitive and he was always snivelling."

Amy lifted her head again, releasing a shuddering sigh.

"It's over," she told herself firmly.

* * *

"So it's a stick of cookie dipped in chocolate?" Dik Dik asked.

"Apparently so," Terry replied with a nod of his head.

"So Kid is dressed like a giant brown stick?" Wally asked.

"And Meat is dressed like a flower?" Jaeger asked.

"I'm afraid so boys," Terry confirmed.

"Ah nuts, do we gotta sit in da front row?" Mars groaned.

"It will be fun."

Mars, Jaeger, Terry, Dik Dik and Wally all baulked at Kevin Mask, each unsure they had heard correctly.

"It's always funny to see the outfit, if nothing else," Kevin said casually, sitting down into his seat by the aisle.

The others filed past him, filling up the seats. Mars stared at Kevin for a long time, but Kevin barely noticed him.

"Where is our team mascot anyway?" Kevin asked, looking down the row at the faces of those around him.

"Huh?" Mars asked.

"Amy," Kevin replied. "Where is she? Shouldn't she be here dressed as a cherub or something?"

"Nah, she ain't comin'," Mars replied.

Kevin pulled a face at Mars, an action lost behind his mask.

"Why isn't she coming?" Kevin asked. "That's not like her."

"Who cares?" Mars replied with a shrug.

Kevin grumbled a few choice words, sitting back in his seat. He silently wondered what had happened to stop Amy from attending; after all, out of all the Muscle Leaguers, she had the closest connection to Kid Muscle, and she had certainly been supportive of him in the first version of the Bad Blood Tournament.

He eventually decided that she would appear soon enough; after all, she always did.

* * *

**Next Chapter:** It's Kid Muscle and Checkmate versus Death Angel and Sprite, complete with Kid making an ass of himself – literally. Again, this is a two-chapter battle. **Chapter 21 – Royal Flush**.

**A/N(2):** Everyone rejoice, the Mary-Sue has left the series: repeat, the Mary-Sue has left the series!


	21. Royal Flush

**A/N:** I'm totally busting my ass to get this stuff up here, and only like 3 people are actually reading it (and that's probably including me, LOL). Ah well, such is the life of a trailblazer.

**Recap:** Kevin and Amy shared an intimate moment but Amy did not tell Kevin that she was leaving Earth, and she returned to Muscle Planet.

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* * *

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**Chapter 21 – Royal Flush**

"Good afternoon fight fans, this is Mac Metaphor, broadcasting live from the Sapporo Dome, the site of the second round match of the revised Bad Blood Tournament!"

"And this time fight fans, the match is taking place inside the dome, a welcome change for the Muscle League team I'm sure."

"Certainly so Doc, after the cold weather and disastrous events of the last fight here, you can be sure that Kid Muscle and Checkmate will be pleased to be indoors today. The last time these two teams met was on the 31st of October, a night some allege that the dead can walk the Earth, and this time they face off on the 11th of November, a day recognised in many countries as a day to commemorate the lives lost during World War One. A recurring theme perhaps, Doc?"

"I don't think the Muscle League team see it that way, Mac. I spoke to Kid Muscle earlier today, and he considers today synonymous with Pepero Day, a celebration in Korea similar to Saint Valentine's Day."

"Pepero Day, Doc?"

"Pepero Day, Mac."

"Pepero Day?" Terryman echoed, leaning back from King Muscle's excessive costume.

Buffaloman snorted, muttering something into his beer before taking another sip.

"I'm supporting Mantaro," King Muscle explained, pointing at his brown tracksuit and tall hat ensemble.

"Ya look like a giant piece o' crap," Terryman told him flatly.

"More like a used thermometer," Buffaloman muttered, turning his head away from them both.

Mars laughed quietly at Buffaloman's remark, elbowing Kevin roughly.

"Hey Kev, did ya hear dat?" he asked him.

"Yes thanks," Kevin groaned, wincing against Mars's jabs.

"Hey y'all, if King Muscle looks like that…" Terry began slowly.

"What the heck is Kid Muscle going to look like?" Dik Dik finished for him.

"Maybe now isn't the best time to say this, but I saw part of his costume," Wally reluctantly volunteered. "He's wearing a knee-length brown dress,"

"Vot?" Jaeger yelped.

"He's wearin' a dress?" Terry echoed.

"You're surprised?" Dik Dik snorted. "It's not the first time."

"And it won't be the last," Trixie said, rolling her eyes.

"Just so long as he gets the job done," Jacqueline said, folding her arms over her chest. "Living with Edward is unbearable, I pity Roxanne and Kiki right now."

"Honestly, I was surprised Edward released the two of you," Dik Dik said. "I didn't expect him to uphold his end of the bargain after all the other dirty stunts he has pulled."

"We thought something awful had happened to you," Wally added, turning to Jacqueline. "After that volcano incident…"

"Another dirty trick," Jacqueline replied. "Edward has a whole encyclopaedia of them."

"It's Kiki you need to worry about," Trixie said darkly. "She's the only one who really stuck it to Edward, and after today, she'll be left alone with him for two days."

The others all turned to Mars, finding him watching the ring, apparently oblivious to their words.

"He won't hurt Kiki," Dik Dik said confidently. "There's nothing to be achieved from that sort of behaviour."

"He's DMP," Terry said darkly.

"Even though, I'm sure Kiki will be fine," Dik Dik said.

"Unlike Edward's team-mates?" Wally asked, pointing at something beyond the ring in front of them.

The others turned to the front row of seats opposite the ring, finding just Edward and Fargo sat there.

"The others must still be hospital," Dik Dik said.

"Or not," Jaeger said, his face twisting a little.

"What are you suggesting?" Dik Dik asked.

"I'd say our opponents ain't part of The Anarchists no more," Terry offered.

"Do you think they…?" Wally began nervously.

"Forced zhem out or…" Jaeger began.

"Killed them?" Dik Dik asked. "Why would he? He needs all the help he can get so that he can cheat his way to the top."

Kevin turned to Mars to gauge his reaction to the speculation of their fellow Muscle Leaguers, but Mars was still staring ahead of himself. Carefully following the line of Mars's sight, Kevin found that Mars was not in fact looking at the ring, but rather beyond it at Edward and Fargo. Kevin watched in interest as Edward and Fargo both pointed at them as Kevin looked in their direction. They then drew their fingers across their throats in a clear threat of how they intended the next round of the tournament to play out.

"Somebody hasn't lost any confidence," Kevin muttered, turning back to Mars.

Kevin started as he found Mars's hands dancing about in the air, apparently signalling something back to Edward and Fargo.

"Mars, what are you doing?" he hissed.

"Stay outta dis," Mars muttered to him, continuing his crude attempts at sign language.

Kevin sighed, turning his head away from them all, looking out over the stands. Ikeman was making his way towards the ring, indicating the imminent start of events that, Kevin hoped, would be enough of a distraction for Mars to stop him conversing with Edward and Fargo.

"Goo-ood afternoon ladies and gentlemen!" Ikeman sang as he reached the ringside area.

Jacqueline snorted out a noise of disgust as Ikeman hopped into the ring.

"He wasn't even glad to see me again when I was released," she grumbled. "I'm taking the chair from him just as soon as this mess is over."

"Welcome to the second round of the revised Bad Blood Tournament!"

Ikeman faltered a little as he spotted Edward and Fargo apparently signing death threats at him; but a glance across the ring showed Mars doing the same, revealing that they were talking to each other, and he was merely caught in the cross-fire of their silent assault of words.

"Today we will see the Muscle League team of Kid Muscle and Checkmate take on the DMP team of Death Angel and Sprite!" he continued. "And so, without further ado, please welcome Kid Muscle and Checkmate!"

Ikeman held a hand out towards the entrance ramp, revealing a darkened aisle. He frowned, glancing about himself as he wondered who needed to be fired for failing to start the music and prompt the Muscle League tag team to enter. An IWF official hurried over to the ringside area, and Ikeman moved over to meet him.

On the other side of the ring, Edward and Fargo began to laugh, doing a little chicken dance to indicate what they thought of the Muscle League team's failure to enter on cue.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Checkmate," Ikeman recovered, moving back to the centre of the ring.

Checkmate's music began and the audience cheered appreciatively as he made his way down to the ring. Edward and Fargo continued to look amused as they watched Checkmate enter alone, but the Muscle Leaguers, both the new generation and the Legends, were starting to cringe.

"He was serious about his entrance then?" Dik Dik grumbled.

"Sure looks that way," Terry groaned.

"We don't know him," Dik Dik said, hanging his head.

"Aw come on you guys, how bad can it be?" Wally asked cheerfully.

"And Anarchists Death Angel and Sprite!" Ikeman announced.

"Hey, where's dat damn yellow-bellied Kinniku?" Mars demanded, sitting forwards angrily as the DMP team began their entrance.

"Kid vants to enter last," Jaeger replied. "Because his entrance vill be so exciting, he vanted to vait until last."

"Oh God…" Kevin groaned.

As The Anarchists entered the ring, Sprite held out his arms at his sides, smiling and shrugging his shoulders as though to suggest that Kid had disappeared or backed out of the fight.

"And finally, Kid Muscle!" Ikeman said, his tone suddenly flat.

Ikeman hurried from the ring, though this time apparently not from fear of the competitors as he hung his head, refusing to look in the direction of the entranceway as the chirpy sound of the Pepero song began to play. The audience all turned to the curtain, muttering in confusion as they speculated about what was happening. A few seconds later, Meat appeared in a vivid costume, the brightness of which was only matched by the redness of his face, which was apparently so bad it was visible through his mask.

"He dressed as flower," Dik Dik said blandly, his ears drooping as he watched Meat walk with his head low, dressed in the orange stockings, tall green hat and petalled white dress Kid had threatened to dress him in.

"Ah damn it!" Mars growled as Kid stumbled out onto the entranceway, straightening once he was through the curtain to reveal the full extent of his ludicrous costume.

Kid was dressed in a brown dress as Wally had foretold, and his head was enclosed in brown material that only opened for his face, covering the sides and back of his head entirely. On top of his head, he was balancing an impractically tall brown stick that had been the reason he had been forced to duck his way through the ten feet high entranceway. Standing proudly at the top of the aisle with buckets of Pepero sticks in his hands, the stick on Kid's head looked to be even taller than Kid himself.

"Ten bucks says he falls on his face before he even makes it to da ring," Mars offered.

"Twenty on him falling on his arse," Kevin offered.

"Fifty on him somehow injuring a fan," Dik Dik offered.

"Fifty on he forgot to wear his wrestlin' tights underneath," Terry offered.

"One hundred on him forgetting about the stick when he tries to step through the ropes and he really humiliates us all," Jacqueline said dryly.

Kid grabbed a handful of Pepero sticks from one of the buckets he held, flinging them out to the audience, who all cowered away from them, shouting abuse at him for offering them food that he had touched with his bare, probably unwashed, hands. Meat quickened his pace, keeping his head down as he approached the ring, trying his best to ignore the girls all cooing at him as though he were a three year old girl at her first beauty pageant. As soon as he cleared the entrance ramp, he tore off the green hat and flung it aside before yanking the dress up and over his head and tossing it towards the hat. He then lifted his head, looking up at the ring pensively, studying Kid's opponents critically, all the while silently wondering why the small blonde one was grinning at him.

"Hey little man!" Sprite said, skipping over to where Meat stood and flopping to his knees to lean through the ropes towards Meat. "I simply love the stockings…"

Meat jumped on the spot, looking down at his legs in alarm to find that he was still wearing the bright orange stockings, held in place by a frilled garter belt around his hips. He growled out an indecipherable string of words as he tore the remains of his costume from his body, before laughing nervously as he caught Marie, Trixie and Jacqueline all watching him with interest.

"It was the best way to keep them on…" he tried to explain.

"We don't want to know," Trixie said flatly, before sitting back with Marie and Jacqueline.

Meat sighed, slouching his shoulders and turning back to the ring.

"Aw little man, I thought you looked sweet enough to eat!" Sprite sang, reaching out a hand and patting Meat on the head.

"Knock it off!" Meat roared, slapping his hand away.

Sprite yelped, retracting his hand, and glaring at Meat, his mouth agape in shock.

"Don't push me kid, I've forgotten more about wrestlin' than your entire team has ever learnt!" Meat warned, waggling a finger at him.

"You're such a bitch, little man!" Sprite said moodily, before rising to his feet and strutting over to join his team-mate.

"Hey Meat, what happened to your costume?" Kid asked as he joined Meat by the ring.

"Uh… I took it off…" Meat slowly confessed.

"But why?" Kid whined. "The song hasn't finished yet!"

Meat groaned, silently willing the ground to open and swallow him up.

"You girls can hold my buckets of sticks!" Kid said brightly, thrusting his buckets towards Trixie and Jacqueline.

"How about you hold our buckets of sick?" Jacqueline returned as she and Trixie recoiled from his offer.

"I'll hold your stick, Kid Muscle!"

Kid turned pale, glancing about himself nervously for the source of the voice. He did not have to look for long, as suddenly Dorothy Tusket materialised by the barrier, beaming up at him with unwavering devotion, her hands outstretched towards him.

"O-kay…" Kid said slowly handing her the buckets.

"Oh the sticks…" she muttered, pouting at the buckets dejectedly.

"What did you think I said?" Kid yelped, hastily retracting his offer.

Dorothy grinned up at him nervously, shrugging her shoulders.

"You got food in dere?" Mars called over to Kid.

"I've got Pepero," Kid replied, shaking the buckets to demonstrate his point.

"Give it here," Mars said, reaching out for them.

Kid passed the buckets to Mars and turned back to the ring, further embarrassing his friends by reaching a hand around to adjust his underwear through his dress directly in front of their faces.

"Don't eat them!" Kevin hissed, when Mars began chomping on a handful of the Pepero from one of Kid's buckets. "Kid Muscle has been touching those!"

"Who cares, ya eat a tonne o' shit before ya die, yeah?" Mars replied.

"What does that even mean?" Kevin echoed.

"Ze yellow vons are good!" Jaeger said cheerfully as he helped himself to some Pepero from the second bucket, which Mars had placed at his feet. "Ze little man on ze front looks angry."

"Like Kevin?" Dik Dik whispered loudly.

"Ja, ze little yellow man looks like Kevin!" Jaeger agreed.

"Why, cause he's got a stick on his forehead?" Terry asked.

"That must be where they differ," Dik Dik replied. "Kevin keeps his stick up his ass."

Kevin rounded on his team-mates, his temper flaring when he found them all laughing at him, including Marie, who usually rose above the crude humour of the Muscle League.

"Arseholes," Kevin grunted, sitting back hard in his seat.

Kid Muscle had stepped up onto the ring apron as though to enter the ring, but he paused for a moment before acting. When he eventually did decide to enter the ring, he forgot to remove his costume just as Jacqueline had predicted, the stick on his head catching on the corner-post as he stepped through the ropes. He cried out as he lost his balance, before the spring in the ropes flung him to the floor, where he landed on his rear-end, colliding with Meat as he fell. Meat angrily pushed him away, causing him to fall on his face, his dress falling about his head, revealing that he had in had forgotten to wear his wrestling gear underneath his costume.

"Well at least he didn't injure a fan," Marie offered, when it appeared that every other prediction Kid's friends had made had just come true.

Kid began fighting against his dress, bringing his head up sharply, the stick on his head smacking a row of teenagers to the floor.

"You were saying?" Dik Dik asked dryly, quirking an eyebrow at Marie.

"Kid, take the damn costume off!" Meat roared.

Kid obediently removed his costume, standing before his manager in his underwear and wrestling boots.

"Where are your tights, Kid?" Meat asked dryly.

"I forget them," Kid said. "I'll just have to fight in my underpants."

"What?" Meat echoed, eying Kid over incredulously.

"Dad did it all the time," Kid said with a shrug, before climbing into the ring.

Meat worked through a variety of expressions before sighing and slouching his shoulders as though to announce that he was submitting to Kid's eccentricities.

"Nice skid-marks, Mantaro!" Sprite said, before sticking out his tongue at Kid.

Kid made a face back at Sprite, and the two commenced a war of grotesque face-pulling, much to the chagrin of their solemn team-mates inside the ring, both of who took a distinct step away from them.

"If he don't win dis match, he's outta da Muscle League," Mars growled, before ramming another handful of Pepero into his mouth.

"Isn't that decision up to Ikeman McMadd and Kevin Mask?" Dik Dik asked him.

"I can make decisions too, I got just as much power here as Kev!" Mars argued back.

Kevin eyed Mars sceptically, suppressing the urge to tell Mars exactly how irritating it was that he considered himself "co-leader" of the Muscle League. Despite not particularly liking any of his fellow Muscle Leaguers, Kevin did still appreciate the fact that he had won the Chojin Crown Championship and earned himself the right to lead them.

"Cut that out, you fucking idiot!"

The Muscle Leaguers fell silent, their heads snapping around to the source of the outburst, all surprised to find Edward Mask on his feet at the other side of the ring, clutching the railings and waving a fist at Sprite, who looked suddenly subdued inside the ring.

"Heh, trouble in paradise, huh?" Mars laughed, elbowing Kevin in the ribs.

"Looks like they fall apart the minute they taste defeat," Dik Dik mused.

Inside the ring, Sprite turned away from Edward, hanging his head a little, his hair falling around the sides of his face but doing little to conceal the redness in his cheeks.

"Ha ha, you suck!" Kid sang, pointing at Sprite and hopping on the spot.

Sprite lifted his head a little, studying Kid for a moment before turning to Death Angel.

"I got this one," he said darkly, cracking his knuckles.

Death Angel obligingly stepped out through the ropes, and Checkmate, after assuming that Kid was preparing to fight, stepped out to his corner.

"Laugh this off, pig-face!"

Sprite launched himself into a particularly vicious drop-kick, which, despite raising his arms and attempting to evade the attack, Kid took the majority of the blow from, staggering back and barely remaining on his feet.

"You couldn't beat us the last time we met, what makes you think this time will be any easier?" Sprite growled, stalking around the ring.

Kid fell into pace with him, walking around the ring, watching him in both apprehension and amusement.

"I've got an advantage this time," Kid said, grinning gleefully. "I'm only wearing my underpants!"

"What possible advantage is that?" Sprite spat, stopping short and glowering at Kid angrily.

"Easier access!" Kid said brightly, turning around and demonstrating his point.

Sprite leapt through the ropes as Kid let out a fart, grumbling curses as he ran around the outside of the ring in an attempt to escape the noxious gas that was lingering where he had been standing before Kid's little stunt.

"One," Kid said, raising a finger mockingly. "Two! Three! Four!"

Sprite swiped a hand under the bottom rope and pulled one of Kid's ankles out from under him; but Kid quickly grabbed at the ropes as he fell, kicking his free foot outwards, his heel driving into Sprite's forehead. On instinct he released Kid, staggering around a little until his hip collided with the barriers by the front row.

"Kid!" Meat roared, distracting Kid from his assault as he turned towards his manager, a look of innocent ignorance on his face.

Beyond Meat, he could see Trixie, Jacqueline and Marie all looking awkward, their heads angled away from the ring. He looked back at Meat, silently wondering why his manager was literally steaming from his ears.

"Pull your damn underpants up, Kid!" Meat roared.

Kid looked down at himself before shrugging indifferently as he followed Meat's instructions, concealing himself under his minimal covering once more. Meat sighed, hanging his head and muttering something about his day getting increasingly embarrassing.

"Filthy boy!" Sprite growled, leaping back onto the ring apron in one step.

Kid yelped and dodged to one side as Sprite launched himself over the top rope at Kid. Kid successfully evaded the attack, leaving Sprite to flounder in the air before falling in an awkward position as he tried to land on his feet. Seeing his opponent in a moment of weakness, Kid quickly drop-kicked Sprite in the back, flattening him to the mat. Kid then grabbed a handful of Sprite's hair, dragging him up and throwing him into the air, jumping after him and preparing to set up for a Kinniku Buster.

"How stupid are you?" Sprite yelled at him. "One, I know the reversal for that move, and two, you struggled against us last time, why would you suddenly be able to beat us so easily this time around?"

As Kid caught up with Sprite in the air, Sprite slapped him across the face, causing Kid to yelp and slap him back.

"Hey!" Sprite protested.

"C-can I do that?" Kid asked him as they began to slow their ascent. "Is it okay for me to slap you, or that like hitting a girl?"

"The only girl around here is you!" Sprite retorted, hooking his legs around Kid's shoulders and arcing back over, pulling them both back down towards the ring. "Let's see if your famous Kinniku neck muscles can save your head from this!"

Kid grabbed Sprites knees and yanked his head from the hold, whereupon the two proceeded to wrestle in the air as they fell, each trying to secure a move on the other before they reached the mat. Kid eventually managed to secure a reverse Kinniku Buster on Sprite, but failed to execute the move as Death Angel suddenly shot at him, head-butting him off course. Checkmate leapt up afterwards in his knight form, head-butting Sprite in the opposite direction. Death Angel and Checkmate landed in the ring on their feet facing each other, but Kid and Sprite had been sent hurtling out of the ringside area, both landing at opposite sides of the audience, several rows back from the ring.

Inside the ring, Death Angel lunged at Checkmate, grabbing his arms around thin air as Checkmate staggered back out of his reach, turning his back on Death Angel, who lifted his head, an aura of confusion evident even on his expressionless skeletal face. A second later, Checkmate's hind legs kicked into Death Angel's chest, sending him up into the air. Checkmate leapt up after his opponent, planting his front feet onto Death Angel's feet and driving him down to the mat in his High Horse Driver move, causing their combined weight to land on Death Angel's neck. As Checkmate leapt back to the mat, he converted back to his king form before turning to assess the status of his opponent. To his surprise, an IWF official was standing at ringside and had begun a count on Death Angel, who was lying motionless on the mat.

As the count reached twelve the official was interrupted by Sprite flying back into the ring, seemingly from nowhere, catching Checkmate with a flying crossbody. As Checkmate had not detected his approach, he fell back under the attack, but quickly pushed his smaller opponent aside once they had hit the mat and rolled over, getting to his feet. Sprite bounced up and rounded on him, his face bloodied from his previous encounters with Kid and his fall amongst the stands, but a confident grin still present on his features. Checkmate gave a small smile of his own before converting to his rook form as Sprite launched a spinning heel kick at his head. Sprite's foot collided with stone and he yelped, falling ungraciously to Checkmate's feet.

Sprite hurriedly got up again, limping away from Checkmate, his grin vanishing as he spotted Death Angel still lying prostrate on the canvas. He glanced over in Edward's direction, gulping visibly before turning back to Checkmate and forcing a grin that looked almost maniacal as he tried to look continue looking confident despite obviously being worried.

"We're not that easy to defeat!" he said.

"I think you are!" a voice said cheerfully.

Sprite turned around, his face met by a foot as Kid re-entered the ring, kicking him to the mat. Sprite fell over Death Angel's fallen form, the force of the impact apparently enough to revive Death Angel, who shoved Sprite aside a little too viciously, grabbing at the ropes as he tried to right himself. Checkmate turned to Kid, who nodded to confirm that he understood the look in his eye.

"Fight like the DMP," he said.

Checkmate nodded, and they both leapt at their opponents, grabbing them by their necks and slamming them together, bashing their heads off each other. Sprite collapsed after the blow, groaning and covering his face with his hands, and Death Angel staggered back into the ropes, a series of cracks appearing on his bony features. Kid reached for Death Angel, finding the confidence to attack him in his weakened state, but soon found his confidence dwindling as Death Angel grabbed onto his wrist, halting his attack. Kid tried to tug his hand back, but Death Angle opened his mouth and jerked forwards, biting down onto Kid's hand.

"Get it off me!" Kid wailed, turning to Checkmate. "I didn't even know he had teeth!"

Checkmate sighed, starting towards them only to suddenly lose his balance as Sprite flew at his back, grabbing his head and pulling him down towards the ropes. Sprite flew right over the ropes and to the floor below, releasing Checkmate at the last possible second, causing him to bounce off the top rope and fall backwards, landing hard on his back. Kid yelped, kicking at Death Angel's chest as he tried desperately to free his hand.

"Kid, stay focused!" Meat yelled at him. "Don't waste energy, think about what you're doing!"

Kid stopped his assault, whimpering as he looked directly at Death Angel's face. Behind him Checkmate had switched back to his king form and was attempting to stand, but Sprite knocked him down again with a drop-kick to the head.

"I don't like dis," Mars grumbled, narrowing his eyes as he watched the action inside the ring.

"Give them time," Kevin replied. "Kid Muscle always manages to surprise us."

Mars grumbled something inaudible, and turning to him, Kevin saw that Mars was watching Edward and Fargo again, apparently too preoccupied with them to really see what had been happening in the ongoing battle before them.

"Mantaro if you let that asshole bite off your ring-finger, our marriage is over!"

Kid looked about himself nervously, but failed to locate the source of the voice; not that he needed to, since it had clearly been Roxanne that was yelling at him.

"But we never even had our wedding night yet!" Kid wailed, talking to the ceiling as he failed to find a better direction to aim his voice.

"Just shut-up and kick his ass!" Roxanne's voice shouted back.

Kid nodded dumbly, turning to Death Angel again, memories of Blassy – his neighbour's Doberman – drifting through his mind. He then remembered when Dial Bolic had disguised himself as the dog, and suddenly an idea occurred to Kid, and he found his confidence again.

"Don't count me out yet, Roxanne!" he said, reaching his free hand towards Death Angel.

-

* * *

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**Next Chapter:** The fight comes to a conclusion and Roxanne has a crisis of conscience. Meanwhile, Kiki finds herself caught in the middle of a battle of misguided love. **Chapter 22 – Princess in a Tower**.


	22. Princess in a Tower

**A/N:** Apologies in advance, but I really despise Road Rage. He tried to kill the puppy, and I can't ever forgive him for that. Gen Ex were all cool, but he sucked. Kid's victory over him was one of my favourite because he really deserved what he got.

Also, it's surprisingly hard to write Kid in a wrestling match… He doesn't have a specific style, other than running away, farting, urinating himself, etc.

**Recap:** The second round of the revised Bad Blood Tournament began with Kid Muscle and Checkmate taking on Death Angel and Sprite; and after Kid initially embarrassing everyone with his themed entrance and (lack-of) wrestling gear, the fight quickly turned bloody.

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* * *

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**Chapter 22 – Princess in a Tower**

Roxanne sighed, resting her forehead against the Perspex in front of her. She was unsure if she considered Edward's unique and differing ways of putting his hostages on display during matches as inventive or just plain sick. Admittedly, being locked into a cubicle at the top of the lighting and audio control tower inside the Sapporo Dome was infinitely preferable to her position during Kid and Checkmate's previous match against The Anarchists where she had been dumped on the roof of the dome in the cold and almost fallen to her death.

After Kiki's rebellion against Edward, life as one of his hostages had become increasingly unbearable. Roxanne had been happy that Jacqueline and Trixie were safely released two days earlier, but she had been secretly worried and slightly jealous that they were free and she was alone with Kiki to deal with Edward and his friends. Prior to his team's first official loss to the Muscle League, Edward had seemed to Roxanne to be nothing more than an angry brat who was jealous of his older and vastly more successful brother; but Edward had shown another side to himself between his team's loss and the start of their battle against Kid and Checkmate. Roxanne had never felt herself in any danger as Edward's hostage, even after he slapped Kiki; but after she saw his reaction to his team's loss, Roxanne had not slept for fear that she would not wake up again.

Roxanne was terrified that Kid would somehow let her down again and she would be taken back to The Anarchists' lair. She was also battling her conscience as she tried to decide just how much she ought to reveal to the Muscle League about what she had witnessed after Trixie and Jacqueline's release, and her true opinion on how safe she believed Kiki to be. She did not want to worry Mars or any of the others any more than they no doubt already were worrying over Kiki's safety, but equally she wanted them to realise how direly important it was that they not only defeat their DMP opponents, but that they utterly destroyed them.

Edward had shown himself to be a master of psychological warfare, and Roxanne believed that his vicious ways could be enough to ruin everyone in the Muscle League; except perhaps for Kevin Mask, who Roxanne doubted ever felt any emotion other than directed and usually controlled anger.

Watching the fight below her, Roxanne was concerned to see that the match had shifted in an unfavourable direction, and Death Angel and Sprite appeared to be dominating Kid and Checkmate. Her finger hovered over the tannoy system activation button as she contemplated broadcasting another demand to her husband in the hope of bringing him back to attention. She had too often witnessed that Kid was only driven to success by the prospect of food or the offer of something amorous, and as nobody could see her hidden high in the tower, Roxanne almost felt brave enough to proposition Kid if it would motivate him to pull off a victory over the DMP. But as she debated humiliating herself in front of her friends, who would know it was her voice, Roxanne saw something that made her retract her hand from the switch: Kid had just floored Death Angel and turned on Sprite, who looked particularly worse for wear.

Kid brought up his knee, driving it into Sprite's gut, whilst behind him, Checkmate grabbed up Death Angel, flinging him into the air and morphing into his knight form again. As Checkmate leapt up after Death Angel, Kid kneed at Sprite again, causing him to cough up blood with his second blow. Checkmate again delivered his High Horse Driver to Death Angel, who took on a distinctly removed aura, suggesting he had been knocked unconscious. Kid then threw Sprite into the air and ran back, launching himself off the ropes.

"Not my face!" Sprite cried.

But Kid ignored his plea, catching him with his trademark Muscle Millenium finishing move, driving Sprite into the ring ropes, leaving his opponent unconscious and broken on the mat. Kid turned to look at the unconscious Death Angel before turning to Checkmate, who gave him a thumbs-up, at which Kid dared to smile. The ring bell rang and Ikeman said the words Kid had been longing to hear.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners, as a result of a double knock-out, Checkmate and Kid Muscle!"

Kid jumped up and down gleefully, basking in the standing ovation he received from the audience. He only stopped his celebrations as he heard Roxanne's voice again.

"Kid, I'm locked in the control tower, come and let me out!"

Kid looked about himself a few times before locating the tower in question, taking off towards it with insatiable vigour. Back in the ring, the Muscle League had stepped up to congratulate Checkmate, but they had all fallen silent as they suddenly noticed Edward in the ring with them.

"Hey Eddie, looks like ya lost," Mars said to him with a smirk. "Again! Lemme guess, now you're here to forfeit, cause you already know I'm gonna kick your ass and put your little kitty-cat to sleep at our match."

Edward glared at Mars for a moment of extended silence before crossing the ring to where Sprite lay, two paramedics at either side of him, checking his pulse and responses. As Edward approached, Sprite opened his eyes a little, looking up at his team-mate, his eyes hazy as though he was not really conscious. The Muscle League watched on in interest as the two stared at each other, a distinct awkwardness building around them.

"I'm so sorry," Sprite said faintly.

"Take it easy there," one of the paramedics advised him.

"I let you down… I… Sorry," Sprite continued, ignoring the paramedic entirely.

Edward reached a hand up to his face, a familiar clicking noise alerting Kevin's attention, a small wave of panic washing over him as Edward slowly lifted his mask. Kevin wondered when Edward was going to stop, but he did not, removing his mask entirely, his hand dropping to his side, the mask hanging loosely from his fingers. The ring was suddenly surrounded by four walls of light as a mass of flash photography began, every journalist and fan with a camera eager to capture Edward's face on film; but Edward was oblivious to it, his eyes fixed on Sprite.

"Sorry," Sprite said again, one quivering hand lifting slightly in Edward's direction.

Edward made a small snorting sound before spitting onto Sprite's face. Terry, Wally, Jaeger and Dik Dik hissed, recoiling at the action. Edward lifted his eyes, looking first at Mars before turning to Kevin. Kevin stared back at him numbly, horrified at what he was seeing. Kevin tried to remain calm, tried to approach what he was seeing as logically as possible; after all, it had been several years since he had last seen Edward, it was inevitable that nineteen year old Edward would not look the same as fifteen year old Edward had.

But Kevin could never have predicted what he now saw.

"Put it back on, you're makin' people sick and da children are all cryin'," Mars said to Edward.

Edward shifted his eyes to Mars, arching his eyebrows.

"I'll see you in the ring Scarface," he said flatly. "We'll see who cries then."

Edward pulled his mask back on and stepped out of the ring, walking back over to rejoin Fargo. Kevin watched the two of them walk through the stands, people leaping out of their path as they went. As he watched them leave, Kevin felt his chest tighten in a way he had never felt before, and suddenly he found a thought sitting in his mind that ought not to be there: suddenly Kevin did not want to fight.

"Hey Kev, let's party!" Mars suggested, slapping Kevin on the arm.

Kevin turned to look at Mars, staring at him blankly until the smile disappeared from Mars's face.

"I just want to be alone today," Kevin said, his voice bland and emotionless.

Mars frowned, eying Kevin curiously.

"You okay dere Kev?" he asked suspiciously.

"No," Kevin confessed. "I need to be alone."

Mars slowly nodded.

"Okay, well, don't nothin' stupid, okay?"

Kevin narrowed his eyes, his anger slowly starting to rise.

"Like what, exactly?" he asked. "Like run away back to the DMP and get stoned?"

Mars's eyes widened briefly before his face twisted into a vicious scowl.

"What da hell is your problem?" he snarled.

"You," Kevin growled. "You're always running off and screwing things up. I need someone a little more reliable watching my back at our match."

"Reliable?" Mars echoed. "Hey Mask, you're da one who took me out to save your own brother just last week! Me, you tag team partner, to save your brother, our opponent. I ain't reliable? You can't be trusted!"

"You're only in this for Kiki, if she hadn't been whisked away by Edward and his friends you wouldn't even be here right now."

"Huh?"

"You said yourself you didn't want any part of any tournament against the DMP. You would have left us to fight those idiots without you, giving them the advantage of numbers. You're only hanging around because they have Kiki."

"Just what the hell are you implyin' here?"

"Just don't screw this up."

"Hey, same to you pal!"

Kevin and Mars glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, only breaking apart as Mars turned to Kid and Roxanne, who were entering the ring, giggling and chatting cheerfully, blissfully ignorant to what had just transpired inside the ring.

"Hey Roxanne, how's my girl?" Mars asked Roxanne.

Roxanne stopped abruptly, her face dropping as she met Mars's eyes. She mouthed something nonsensical before turning to Kevin, a flicker of a frown passing over her features.

"Hey, what were you guys talking about here?" Kid asked innocently.

Mars turned to Kevin, pulling a sarcastic face at him.

"Yeah Mask, why don't ya tell Kid what we was just talkin' about?" he suggested.

"Just leave me alone," Kevin growled, turning on his heel and exiting the ring without a backward glance.

-

* * *

-

Kiki huddled into herself, frowning at the distinct sound of raised voices. Of course, arguments amongst her captors had been commonplace over the last few days, but this one sounded particularly emotional. It had been more than half a day since The Anarchists had left for their match against Kid Muscle and Checkmate, and although they had been back at their base for some time, Kiki had not seen or heard any trace of Roxanne, signifying to her that the Muscle League had been victorious earlier that day; which, whilst it was a great joy to her, made her nervous about how she would manage on her own until Mars and Kevin Mask defeated the last two Anarchists to secure her freedom.

After the four-way match, Roxanne and Kiki had been ecstatic to see only four of The Anarchists returning, and without Trixie and Jacqueline. They celebrated the idea that their friends were free and that half of The Anarchists had been hospitalised; but their joy was very short-lived, as the four injured Devil Chojins returned the next day, and suddenly everything at their base changed. The Anarchists had always been jovial in each other's company, appearing to Kiki as a group of friends in much the same way the Muscle Leaguers were with each other. But of course, these men were not Justice Chojins who were fuelled to victory by "The Power of Friendship", and Kiki almost felt a fool for having forgotten just that.

Arguments had broken out, and although they had heard a lot of thumping and banging around them, Kiki and Roxanne had not believed the ruckus to be coming from The Anarchists fighting with each other, but rather them breaking objects and throwing things, habits Edward often adopted if something did not go as he planned. The noise did not go on for very long however before the door to their "prison" was opened forcefully, and the four losing Devil Chojins stumbled into the room, followed by Edward, who even with his mask on looked enraged. Edward was devoid of his coat, wearing only his boots, jeans and T-shirt with the sleeves torn off. His hands and clothing were smeared with blood, and some of the wounds on his fallen comrades actually looked quite fresh, leaving Kiki and Roxanne confused and concerned.

Edward had slowly advanced into the room with Sprite following at his heels, grinning menacingly. Death Angel and Fargo entered last, closing the door and blocking it with their enormous bodies. The four losers all scurried back to the back wall, huddling close to where Roxanne and Kiki were sat amongst the straw. Edward waited until they had come to a rest before continuing his advance, stopping a few feet away from them, Sprite moving around to stand at his side.

"Edward, we grew up together!" Master DJ said nervously. "I've known you longer than anyone! Come on dude, we can work this out!"

"No "dude", I'm rather afraid we can't," Edward coldly replied. "We took an oath to never surrender to an opponent, and tonight you did just that. You could have escaped that hold, but you didn't even try, you just gave in. You understand that now there is no place for you in the DMP?"

Master DJ faltered, looking confused at Edward's words.

"Don't worry though," Edward said slowly. "There is no longer a place for any of you in the DMP. I told you all failure was not an option. Months of intensive training and extensive planning led to this tournament, I won't have all that hard work ruined by weak links within our organisation."

"So you're going to just imprison us here indefinitely?" Hydrazoa asked. "How do you think you can hold all of us?"

"I didn't take you here to imprison you," Edward replied, his voice monotonous and hollow. "I took you here to demonstrate to the those Muscle League fangirls what happens to people who cross me."

Roxanne had grabbed at Kiki protectively at Edward's words, but Kiki had still believed that Edward was just bluffing.

"Anarchist M, come over here," Edward had said, beckoning with one finger.

Master DJ got to his feet, glancing nervously at the others around him before approaching Edward.

"Boss…?" he asked nervously.

"I may not have trained with "daddy" or "Lord Flash" like Kevin did, but that doesn't mean I don't know a few of the Mask family tricks myself," Edward said slowly. "I'm sure you all remember Kevin's performance in the Chojin Crown…"

Edward slowly stepped up to Master DJ, a short silence passing between them before Edward punched Master DJ in the face and kneed him in the gut. Roxanne and Kiki both gasped in horror as Edward then proceeded to use a move they had thought only Kevin Mask had the knowledge, skill and drive to use: Edward put his own team-mate into the OLAP.

At first, Kiki had assumed that Edward was just angry, just letting off steam, and that he would let go of his friend before too long. Master DJ was not able to endure the move for a variety of reasons: he was still badly wounded from his fight against the Muscle League the previous day and he was considerably shorter and lighter than Edward, making him completely weak in the hold. But Edward did not stop. He continued to pull on the hold until he did to his friend what Kevin Mask had done to Comrade Turbinski in their semi-final Chojin Crown match. Hydrazoa stood up to protest what was happening, but a kick from Sprite sent him back to his place by the wall. Edward stepped away from Master DJ then, tossing his team-mate's arms towards Roxanne and Kiki, who both screamed and cowered away from them, gripping onto each other more tightly.

Kiki had assumed that Edward was finished. He had just ruined his friend's future in wrestling, and potentially threatened his life, depending on how far they were from a medical institution that could stem the bleeding from his wounds. And of course, it seemed that Edward had just gathered his other losing team-mates around to watch to send a message to them, so to speak. Kiki had garnered from the earlier arguments that Master DJ had submitted to the Muscle League, and therefore he was now bearing the brunt of his boss's anger.

But Kiki's assumptions were wrong.

"Sadly, you're no use to me any more," Edward said, turning to his maimed friend. "And now I'm going to have to kill you."

"Huh?" Sprite responded, turning to Edward, his face the picture of confusion.

Sprite watched curiously at first as Edward grabbed Master DJ's hair and pulled him to his feet, throwing him up into the air. He leapt after him and locked on another of his family's trademark moves, the Big Ben Bash, upon which Sprite's face suddenly changed into an expression of shock. After they landed, it seemed as though Master DJ had broken his neck, but as though to make sure, Edward grabbed an arm around his head and twisted, a series of sickening cracks echoing around the old cottage.

"Edward…" Sprite said softly, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Welcome to the DMP," Edward said to Sprite, roughly shoving him aside and approaching the remaining three fallen Anarchists. "Whose next?" he asked them.

"If this is how you treat your own allies, I want out," Hydrazoa said.

"You want to turn traitor?" Edward asked. "Again?"

"We all do," Road Rage answered him.

"You were the biggest disappointment of all Anarchist R, you didn't even try, and then you destroyed your own leg."

"So you're going to kill me too? While I'm weak enough for you to fight me?"

Edward shot towards Road Rage, and Kiki did not see what happened next because her head became swallowed up in Roxanne's embrace as Roxanne grabbed her over and screamed, her cry almost drowning out the shattering noises that followed. Roxanne only eased off her hold at the sound of several sets of footsteps moving about them. Looking up, Kiki saw Hydrazoa and Wolfang standing facing Edward. Sprite was stood between them, glancing back and forth nervously, his typical excessive confidence entirely absent from his features.

"If you want to leave, I won't make you stay," Edward offered, stepping aside and holding a hand out towards the door.

Hydrazoa and Wolfang exchanged looks of uncertainty before approaching the door. Fargo and Death Angel stepped aside to let them through. A few seconds later, Edward charged out the door after them, followed by a frantic Sprite. Fargo and Death Angel began to leave, but to Kiki's surprise, Roxanne stopped them.

"Hey, we don't want a dead body in here with us!" she called to them.

Kiki turned to the other side of the room, yelping involuntarily as she spotted the mangled remains of Road Rage; it looked as though Edward had attempted to turn him into a pretzel. Fargo muttered a sarcastic remark about Roxanne being a spoiled princess before crossing the room and grabbing a hand around part of Road Rage, dragging him towards the door.

"And this too!" Roxanne added, pointing at Master DJ's body and dismembered arms.

Fargo thoughtlessly flung Road Rage out the door and returned to gather up the remains of his other team-mate. Once they had left and locked the door again, Roxanne had run over to the window set high in the wall, literally running up the wall and somehow hooking herself onto the hollow frame. She stuck her head outside and Kiki could no longer see her face to gauge what she was witnessing. But a few seconds later, a bloodcurdling howl reached Kiki's ears, and Roxanne only hung on a little longer before dropping back down, her face pale.

"He killed them all?" Kiki asked Roxanne.

"Hydrazoa got away," Roxanne said faintly. "But he killed the big wolf."

"What a jerk," Kiki grumbled.

Kiki could still clearly see Roxanne's face as she then turned to Kiki, her complexion still deathly pale.

"Kiki?" she had asked. "Do you think we're safe?"

Kiki had felt confident then that they were still safe. She had no foundation for her beliefs, but she had not felt that her life was in any danger. Since Roxanne's departure however, Kiki's opinion had changed. With every passing minute, every raised voice or fragmented words that reached her down in her prison, Kiki's confidence waned.

"I don't know, I swear I'm telling the truth!" Sprite's voice yelled, suddenly becoming too clear to Kiki as he stumbled into the room she was being held captive in.

"He was your team-mate," Edward said, following after Sprite. "And you were both in the same room within the hospital. Explain to me how he fled without you even noticing his absence."

"I can't!" Sprite pleaded. "I didn't see him go, I swear! I didn't even notice he was gone, I was unconscious until you came to see me!"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

Sprite cowered down, stumbling closer to where Kiki sat as he predicted an attack from his leader; but to Kiki's surprise, Edward hesitated.

"A-are you going… To…?" Sprite began, eying Edward over cautiously.

"I ought to," Edward frankly replied.

Kiki sighed louder than she meant to, in advertently drawing Edward's attention to her.

"What are you huffing about, Doctor Hawkeye?" he asked her.

Kiki gasped, a distinct rush of fear filling the pit of her stomach at Edward's words.

"How do you know about Doctor Hawkeye?" she asked, her voice strained against the sudden restriction in her throat.

"I'm no idiot," Edward casually replied. "I've been studying my opponents for quite some time. I've been following Mars everyday since his qualifying match for the Chojin Crown. And although he pulled a fast one on me teaming himself with Kevin for this tournament, I'm still prepared for our fight."

"Pulled a fast one?" Kiki echoed. "What do you mean? You're the one who chose the teams, you forced the Muscle League into pre-determined groups!"

"What idiot puts their two strongest fighters in the same team?" Edward shot back. "Kevin was supposed to fight with Kid Muscle!"

"You wanted me to fight Kevin Mask?" Sprite blurted out. "B-but he killed an opponent during the Chojin Crown!"

Kiki laughed bitterly, despite her mounting apprehension.

"You're scared!" she said, pointing at Edward. "I get it now! That's why you were cheating, and that's why you re-started the tournament! You're trying to put off fighting Kevin! You're scared of Kevin!"

Edward lunged towards Kiki, grabbing a hand at her throat; but to her utter astonishment, his hand closed around Sprite's forearm. Kiki glanced back and forth between the two in disbelief, shocked to see that it looked as though Sprite had just thrown himself between them.

"What are you doing?" Edward growled, tightening his grip, a small cracking sound emitting from Sprite's arm, his fingers straightening out in response.

"Nothing," Sprite said awkwardly. "I just fell. Guess my legs are still a bit weak."

Edward hesitated before releasing Sprite.

"Well try not to fall again, alright?" he snarled.

Sprite nodded, but moved a little to stand directly over Kiki, almost entirely blocking her view of Edward.

"I'm not scared of Kevin," Edward explained to his team-mate. "I just expected him to team with Kid Muscle, and I thought Mars would have chosen Checkmate as his partner. I know Checkmate from his DMP days, I prepared myself to face Mars and Checkmate, I didn't think my brother would actually fight me, he always refused to when we were both in the DMP."

"It'll be okay," Sprite said sweetly. "I'll be there to cheer you on!"

"No you won't," Edward said gruffly. "I'm not finished with you yet."

"Hey!" Kiki protested, standing and moving herself around to stand alongside Sprite. "Why do you have to kill everyone? Maybe you're the reason they lost! Maybe you let them down as their leader!"

"If you keep this up, I will kill you next," Edward told her.

"You could kill every person on this planet, it still wouldn't change the fact that you suck!"

Edward stiffened, and Sprite turned to glower at Kiki at her last remark.

"You can both rot in here, I hate you both," Edward snarled, before turning on his heel and marching towards the door.

"Edward!" Sprite wailed, reaching out a hand towards him and starting after him.

The door slammed shut and the rattling and banging sounds that followed told Kiki she had just been locked in with Sprite. She turned to him, but he was still standing in the middle of the room, one arm reached out towards the door. He looked awful: he was still badly wounded from his fight the day before, standing unsteady on shaking and bowed legs, a bandage still wrapped around his head covering his nose, two black eyes protruding from it, the rest of his face red and swollen. And apparently he was still in his wrestling gear, as he was no longer dressed in his typically mildly absurd clothing. Kiki then noticed, amidst his long hair and injuries, an unusual tattoo that filled most of his back, much in the same way the spider's web on Kevin's back did.

"Hey, what does that tattoo mean?" she asked.

Sprite turned his head in her direction, scowling at her viciously.

"Mind your own damn business!" he snapped, before turning away from her and swaying awkwardly over to the straw hill Kiki had built by the window.

Kiki watched in mild curiosity as he gathered up as much straw as he could carry before lining himself up with the door and then placing the straw down in sections. He was trying to act tough, but Kiki could see that he was barely surviving on the remnants of a power painkiller he had been given at the hospital, and that by the next morning he would be immobile. As he reached the middle of the room, Kiki finally realised what he was doing.

"Why are you dividing the room in two?" she asked him.

"Because you will stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine," he moodily replied without looking at her. "And you will treat this like an actual wall: you cannot see or hear me, and likewise, I cannot see or hear you, so don't bother talking at me."

"Isn't that a little immature?" Kiki asked, narrowing her eyes. "Neither of us want to be here, shouldn't we just be angry at Edward together, since he's the one doing this to us after all?"

Sprite made a noise of disgust, flinging the straw up into the air around him.

"You just don't get it, do you?" he yelped.

"Apparently not, no," Kiki said slowly, standing up and dusting herself off. "But since we're stuck here alone together, why don't you tell me?"

"What do you care?" Sprite sneered. "You're just the racy little minx who stole Mars!"

"Racy little minx?" Kiki echoed, unable to stop herself from laughing a little.

"Oh yeah, laugh it up!" Sprite snapped.

"It was just that you sounded just like Kevin Mask there!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! He says stuff like that to me all the time."

Sprite eyed Kiki over curiously before gathering up the straw again and continuing to build his miniscule makeshift divide.

"So I hear that you live with Kevin Mask," he said as he worked, keeping his eyes on the straw.

"Well, I live with Mars, and it just so happens that Mars lives with Kevin," Kiki replied, watching him as he went. "It was a deal they made after the Chojin Crown."

"So what's he like?"

"Who, Mars?"

"I don't want to talk about Mars, I hate him. Tell me about Kevin."

"Okay… Um, well, he's…"

Kiki touched a finger to her chin, rolling her eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully. Whenever anyone asked her about Kevin Mask, all she could think of was a list she had made one day when he had been particularly rude to her. She had called Trixie to moan about Kevin's behaviour, and Trixie had suggested making a list of ways to annoy Kevin and then trying to do as many things off the list as possible each day. Kiki began to smile to herself as she recalled some of the items off the list, oddly finding a starting point to answer Sprite.

"He's very particular," she began. "About everything, from his training, to his diet, to how he likes his tea."

"That makes sense," Sprite grumbled. "A perfectionist."

"Well, yeah I guess."

"They're very alike then."

"They?"

Sprite dropped the last of the straw at the door and turning to Kiki, eying her contemptuously.

"It's just a power struggle," he said cryptically.

"I see," Kiki replied, even though she had no clue what he was talking about.

"Edward is still…"

Sprite's words trailed off and he lowered his head, pinching at the bridge of his nose and sighing.

"Still scared of Kevin and really jealous of him?" Kiki offered.

Sprite let out a disgusted groan as though she had been speaking nonsense.

"No!" he spat out.

"You're nodding your head," Kiki pointed out.

"Yes?" Sprite said, shaking his head.

Kiki gave a small nod, turning her back on Sprite and looking out the window above them. The sky was growing dark outside, and the first twinkle of stars were appearing.

"Just stay on your own side," Sprite told her.

Kiki turned back to watch him stomp over to the furthest wall, dropping himself down and gathering some sparse amounts of straw about himself. He curled over facing the wall, his back turned to Kiki.

"I'm DMP remember!" he added.

Kiki mouthed out the words "and I'm scared", before rolling her eyes and turning back to look out the window at the stars. She suppressed a sigh as she wondered again if Mars was watching the sky that night and if he was thinking of her and missing her as much as did him.

-

* * *

-

Kevin kicked at a tree, before growling out angrily. Behind him, one of the security guards called out something about damage to property, but a threatening glare in their direction soon silenced them again. Deciding that he really had run out of options, Kevin got back on his motorbike and sped off out of the carpark, ignoring the signs that told him "Please Restrict Your Speed in High Park Ladies' Club Carpark". He turned onto the main road and aimed himself towards the one place he really did not want to visit, but resigned that he would have to if he wanted an answer to his question.

In what seemed like mere minutes, Kevin turned into the underground carpark of the extensive hotel, parking his bike by the elevator, ignoring the signs advising him to do otherwise; a parking ticket was the last thing on his mind. He rode the elevator up to the twelfth floor, silently hoping that he had heard Mars correctly when he had been talking about where the Muscle League Legends were staying during the tournament. Whilst the elevator did not stop on its way to Kevin's destination, it did seem to climb the floors painfully slowly, and before the doors had fully opened, Kevin squeezed himself between them, running to the end of the corridor and stopping as he came to a junction, corridors leading off in both directions, both ways lined with countless doors.

"Damn," he growled.

Behind him he faintly heard the pinging of another elevator arriving on the floor, and a moment later he heard someone speak his name. Turning around, Kevin could not contain the sigh of relief as he found Buffaloman looking at him questioningly, a box of bottled beer under one arm.

"Where's my father?" Kevin asked him.

"It's good to see you too, Kevin," Buffaloman replied with a small smile. "We were just having a small party, did you come to join us?"

Kevin looked down at the beer as Buffaloman nodded towards it.

"No," Kevin replied. "I'm looking for Amy, I think my father might know where she is."

"Amy?" Buffaloman repeated, his grin slowly widening. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Where is my father?" Kevin repeated flatly.

"Room 1212 I think," Buffaloman replied, pointing down the left-hand corridor.

"Thank you," Kevin replied, turning and dashing down the corridor until he found the door numbered 1212.

Pausing at the doorway, Kevin could vaguely hear his father's voice within, apparently telling someone a story of his glory days; which, Kevin reasoned, probably meant that his suspicions were correct, that Amy was with his father. He lifted his hand to knock on the door, but decided against it, instead shoving open the door and walking briskly in, only stopping when he found only his father and Warsman sat at a desk playing chess.

"Kevin?" Robin asked, turning to his curiously. "I didn't expect you here…"

"Where's Amy?" Kevin asked.

"Amy?" Robin echoed, turning to Warsman.

"You know who I mean," Kevin said, his patience slipping. "King Muscle's chef."

"Oh, Amy!" Robin said, turning back to Kevin. "I thought you were living with her?"

"No…"

Kevin sighed, turning away from Robin and Warsman, touching a hand to his mask where his forehead was, trying to suppress his emotions.

"I know you were there," he said slowly. "You must have seen it too."

When Kevin did not receive a reply, he turned back to his father, clenching his fists at his sides.

"You must have seen it," he insisted.

"Well," Robin began slowly. "Edward ish your brother."

"What kind of an answer is–"

Kevin stopped himself short, taking a deep breath and sighing out slowly before starting again.

"I just didn't expect it," he said slowly. "He always just looked like a boy, when he was still at home and when I met him in the DMP. I didn't expect that he would grow up to look exactly like…"

Kevin lowered his head, clenching his fists a little tighter as his chest began to tighten and his mind threatened to drown in a tidal wave of memories that was building deep in his conscience.

"He didn't take her colouring, but your brother ish very like your mother," Robin said quietly.

"Very like her?" Kevin echoed. "Very like her? Edward is wearing my mother's face!"

Kevin glared at his father, who looked back at him with what Kevin could only assume was an air of indifference.

"Doesn't it bother you?" Kevin asked him. "Don't you even care?"

"Will you forfeit your match?" Robin asked him.

"This isn't about forfeiting anything, this is about… Where is Amy anyway?"

"I don't know anything about Amy–"

"You were flirting with her at the IWF headquarters last week!"

Robin glanced at Warsman again, but Warsman shrugged in reply.

"Forget it, I'll find her myself," Kevin growled, turning and marching from the room.

He headed back to the elevators, pressing the down button on all six elevators. When none of them opened immediately, he walked further down to the corridor and out the emergency exit, hurrying down the stairs.

"Always there when she's not wanted, never there when she's needed…" he grumbled to himself, his voice echoing around the hollow concrete stairwell.

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** It's the eve of the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament and tensions are high on both sides; particularly after Kiki learns more about Edward's plans and Mars says a few unwelcome things to Kevin. **Chapter 23 – Poison**.

**A/N(2):** Sprite made a remarkable recovery, but he had to because I need him walking about for the next few chapters to work. The list Kiki made of "Ways to Annoy Kevin Mask" will be published in full in a later chapter (probably chapter 26) for anyone who is curious.


	23. Poison

**A/N:** Winding down towards the end of this fic, but still a bit of action to go yet! A long one, but it was important to set up the big final and to close Amy out of the story properly. More obscure Kinnikuman Nisei manga references in this chapter, just for shits and giggles.

**Recap:** The second round of the revised Bad Blood Tournament came to a conclusion with another victory for the Muscle League and Roxanne was set free. Kiki found herself joined by another prisoner as Edward locked Sprite into confinement with her, and Kevin had difficulty coming to terms with the fact that Edward looks a lot like their mother.

-

* * *

- 

**Chapter 23 – Poison**

Kevin lay sprawled on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He had not really slept, due to irregular sleeping patterns after Mars's little party but mostly because his head was full of conflicting thoughts that were conspiring to keep him alert and deny him any rest. Although he had not slept, he had at least had several hours of lying on his back doing nothing else but thinking, and that had thankfully allowed him sufficient time to work through some of his thoughts.

Kevin had finally come to the realisation that there were several major problems he would have to tackle that day, before he could even think about confronting his brother in the ring the day after. First of all, Kevin had no idea where Mars was, or what he was thinking. They had not parted on the best of terms, and as much as Mars liked to boast that he was the ultimate fighting machine, he was still largely susceptible to his emotions, and until Kevin could be sure that Mars was not sulking with him in any way, he could not trust Mars as his tag team partner. Secondly, he had to put aside any previous memories of his brother, and he had to focus on the thought that Edward wore a mask, and so he would not have to worry about seeing pain in a face that looked far too much like his own mother's. And finally, he really, really had to find out where Amy was hiding. She was not in the restaurant, she was not at Beverly Park, she was not at Suminoe Kindergarten, she was not at The Palace or High Park Ladies' Club and she was not even with Robin Mask or King Muscle. The only place Kevin had not looked for her the night before was the old DMP hide-out, but not only was he confident that she would not be there, he had no desire to be caught there by anyone else, lest his presence there be misconstrued as something malicious.

Raising his left hand to his face, Kevin studied his watch, revealing that it was 10:15. As he lowered his arm to his side once more, a thought occurred to him, and he lifted his head slightly, looking down at his feet. He dropped his head to the pillow again with a small clunk, his brain slowly telling him that by leaving on his watch, boots and mask, and not even bothering to pull the covers over himself, he had obviously never really intended to get any sleep the night before. With that thought, Kevin sat up, a quick glance about himself locating his coat draped over the drawers at the end of the bed. Grabbing it up he started for the front door, pulling the coat on as he walked.

As the door closed behind Kevin, two thoughts occurred to him, neither of which helped his generally negative outlook that morning: first of all, his coat – his new coat, since Amy had stolen his old one – was a good three sizes too small for him and he had just torn the seams at the shoulders, meaning that he could not exchange it at the shop, and secondly, he had just allowed the apartment door to close and lock without taking a set of keys with him.

"Bugger," he cursed as he remembered that his keys not only opened the apartment door, but also operated his motorbike.

Kevin started down the stairs regardless, removing the coat as he went. The communal halls of the apartment block were very dark with little lighting, and so when he opened the door out onto the street, Kevin was almost blinded by the sunlight outside, failing to notice the small gathering of people immediately outside the door until their voices reached him.

"Hey, isn't that Kevin Mask?" a voice squealed.

Kevin's head snapped around in alarm as he suddenly found himself facing a gathering of giggling schoolgirls. The sight of a large group of rabid teenage fangirls was always a disturbing one – especially when he had just risen from bed – but what lay at their feet was far more disconcerting.

"Are you guys impersonators?" one of the girls asked. "How much do you charge for a sixteenth birthday party?"

Kevin found the girl's question suddenly reminding him of the time he had first met Amy and she had asked him if he was a stripper with an odd gimmick, leaving him feeling even more confused and bamboozled by unwanted memories of his past.

"This guy is a total bum!" one of the other girls said, pointing at the man sleeping at their feet, his back against the small section of wall between the door Kevin had just exited and the restaurant door.

Kevin looked down again at the man huddled over beneath a swathe of old newspapers, his sleeping face gritty and stained with toner ink, looking every bit the bum he had just been accused of being.

"He's got really nice legs though!" a third girl said, plucking up a sheet of newspaper to reveal one of the man's legs.

"Look, that's no way to treat the poor man!" Kevin said, hoping he could act his way out of his predicament. "He's clearly a poor homeless soul, you shouldn't mock him."

"We weren't mocking him, it's just that he looks a lot like that wrestler, Mars."

"Shouldn't you children be at school?" Kevin snapped irritably.

The girls grumbled a series of indecipherable complaints, but moved on, leaving Kevin alone with Mars, who was still sleeping, blissfully ignorant to the glaring sun overhead and his ridiculous appearance, sleeping amidst garbage like a poverty-stricken hobo.

"Mars, get up," Kevin grumbled, poking his toe at Mars's shoulder through the newspapers.

Mars groaned, his face twitching, but to Kevin's alarm, he merely snuggled down tighter against the hard ground and slept on.

"Mars!" Kevin hissed, jabbing his shoulder a more forcefully. "Get up!"

"Hey sweetheart, I'll just have some pancakes," Mars mumbled sleepily.

Kevin growled, dropping to his knees at Mars's side.

"Well at least you came here last night, which shows that you're not entirely sulking with me," Kevin muttered. "Now come on, get up already."

Kevin grabbed Mars's shoulder and shook him, but still he did not open his eyes, instead a small smile appeared on his face.

"Hey, somebody's frisky dis mornin'!" he said.

Kevin groaned, shaking Mars harder. He opened his mouth to warn Mars to get up before making idiots of them both, but before he could voice his words, Mars suddenly shot towards him, and Kevin found himself on his back on the sidewalk, looking up at Mars, who was somehow on top of him, pinning his shoulders to the ground.

"What da hell is wrong wid you, Kev?" Mars growled, curling his lip at Kevin.

"You pounced at me, fool!" Kevin pointed out.

Mars continued to stare at Kevin with a disgusted look, but did nothing to release him. A flash of a camera brought him to his senses and he leapt from Kevin, looking about himself nervously.

"Great," Kevin sighed, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Now on the day we have to fight Edward and Fargo, every gossip rag in the country will have a picture of you mounting me in a public street. Thanks a bunch, Mars."

"Hey, I was sleepin' I thought you was my girl!" Mars defended himself.

Kevin planted his hands on his hips and watched Mars, waiting for him to notice the glaringly obvious wrongs in his statement for himself.

"Usually she wakes me up," Mars began. "Either she makes me breakfast, or gives me a little bitta–"

"Stop right there," Kevin said hurriedly, holding up a hand to halt Mars's words. "Never mind that now. What were you doing sleeping on the street?"

"I was locked outta my apartment," Mars dryly replied.

"Yes, well, I can relate to that," Kevin said slowly. "I've just locked myself out too."

"Huh?" Mars echoed.

"I let the door shut and the keys were still inside," Kevin explained. "Here, you might as well have this, it's no use to me."

Kevin grabbed up his new coat and tossed it to Mars, who studied it for a moment before dropping it into a nearby trashcan.

"Why?" Kevin asked, pointing at the dumped coat.

"I don't like it," Mars replied with a shrug.

Kevin sighed, suddenly wishing he had slept the night before, as fatigue was beginning to gnaw at his senses.

"How about I buy you breakfast?" he offered, pointing at the restaurant.

"I gotta better idea," Mars replied.

Kevin suddenly felt worried; it was not like Mars to consider something more important than food, and he thought perhaps Mars was about to argue with him once more about leadership of the IWF, or their upcoming fight.

"I need a shower, and you look like you need some sleep," Mars said frankly, walking up to the apartment block and looking up at the windows of their apartment thoughtfully. "So what do ya say, do we break da doors, or a window?"

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"Well, we could break da front door and da apartment door, dat would get us back inside," Mars offered. "Or we could climb up and break a window, get in dat way."

"Or I could call a locksmith," Kevin suggested.

"Well I ain't got a phone no more, cause somebody broke mine," Mars said flatly.

"Let's get breakfast, we can call from the restaurant," Kevin suggested. "We need to talk anyway."

"I got ink and old mayonnaise on me," Mars pointed out.

"I'm sure no-one will notice," Kevin lied. "And I've never known you to say no to free food before."

Mars looked about himself as though literally looking for another excuse to refuse Kevin's offer.

"And just for the record, I think I have a concussion after you smacked me against the pavement," Kevin added. "I'm truly amazed that Kiki continues to survive with you."

"She's my girl," Mars muttered.

"I never said that she wasn't."

"So you locked yourself out, huh?"

"I took my coat, I forgot the keys weren't in the pocket any more. And the coat doesn't fit me anyway, so…"

"Didn't Emmy leave your coat at HQ?"

"Not that know of, I – wait, she's at the IWF headquarters? What the devil is she doing there?"

"She won't be dere no more."

Kevin waited for Mars to explain, but instead he began stretching his arms above his head and yawning, revealing even more unpleasant stains he had acquired from sleeping on the street.

"Mars, do you know where Amy is?" Kevin asked him frankly.

"Nyah," Mars replied in a non-committal grunt, shrugging his shoulders.

"Never mind, let's just have breakfast."

"Okay."

-

* * *

- 

"Is he… Is he sometimes a little bit impatient and impetuous?"

Kiki turned her head, looking up from her position sat in the corner of the room to see Sprite standing by the straw wall, looking up at the hollow window-frame high in the wall, which was casting a ray of sunlight onto him, making him lost positively ethereal. Kiki began to smile, ducking her head so that Sprite would not see her gesture. From the corner of her eye she saw Sprite take two short glances at her before sighing and flinging his arms into the air.

"Y'know it's going to get very lonely in here if you just sit there and ignore me all day!" he said moodily.

"Ooh, what was that?" Kiki said sarcastically, getting to her feet and turning an ear towards Sprite, side-stepping up to his "wall". "I thought I heard someone talking there, but that can't be right! After all, I can't see or hear anything through this impenetrable wall!"

Kiki held her arms out towards the line of straw, looking down at it for effect. Sprite made an exasperated cry and began kicking the straw aside.

"Talk to me, I'm bored!" he demanded, standing in front of her.

Kiki slowly lifted her head, looking him directly in the eye. She had intended to commence teasing him again, but her smile vanished as she looked directly at him for what must have been the first time.

"Oh my God…" she whispered. "That's amazing…"

Sprite cocked an eyebrow at her, straightening his back defensively.

"Don't mock me, just talk to me," he said, pouting dejectedly. "Or at least acknowledge me when I'm talking to you."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't mocking you there," Kiki said softly. "It was just that I'd never really noticed your eyes before."

"Edward thinks I have beautiful eyes," Sprite said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, actually you have…"

Kiki slowly stopped herself, several pieces of a disjointed puzzle suddenly falling into the correct place in her mind.

"Oh my, Edward is in love with Mars, it all makes sense now!" she whispered.

"What?" Sprite echoed, his arms dropping to his sides. "Edward's not in love with Mars!"

"Yes he is!" Kiki insisted. "I get it now! He hates me, and he's bitter because Mars is with me! That's what's eating him up! He can't stand it that Mars doesn't love him back! Edward loves Mars and Mars loves me!"

"That's not true!" Sprite shouted, stamping a foot at Kiki.

Kiki arched her eyebrows at him upon which he sighed dramatically, smoothing his hair back with one hand.

"He thinks your eyes are beautiful because they are the exact same shade as Mars's," Kiki told him.

"Ugh, Mars, Mars, Mars! It's always about Mars!" Sprite growled.

"Are you jealous?" Kiki asked, laughing at the idea.

"No!" Sprite roared, turning on her. "Why would I be? I'm perfectly secure in my relationship with Edward!"

Kiki slid one foot back and leaned away from Sprite, grinning nervously at the positively maniacal look on his face as he glowered down at her.

"I didn't know you and Edward were…" she began.

"Lovers?" Sprite offered.

"Lovers, right," Kiki said, nodding her head. "Though it's obvious now, I mean you both seem so close."

"Oh God you're lying to make me feel better!" Sprite wailed.

Kiki felt a little disappointed at Sprite's response, as she had genuinely thought that she had done a good job of sounding convincing in her lie.

"No!" she said gently, shaking her head. "I'm not lying!"

"Yes you are!" Sprite cried. "It's so obvious that you are! You think my love for Edward is a joke! And so does he! And Mars is laughing at us all!"

Sprite turned his back on Kiki, who silently sighed in relief that she no longer had to lie to his face. She had always been a terrible liar, mainly because she rarely lied, and the slightest bit of pressure always made her crack. As Kiki looked at Sprite again, her eyes wandered over his back, studying the odd tattoo he had. It looked like some sort of writing, though she could not identify the language.

"That's a really interesting tattoo you have," she began, hoping to distract him from his strop. "What does it mean?"

Sprite spun on the spot, the look on his face telling Kiki that she had just asked the wrong question before he even opened his mouth.

"It's a declaration of my love for Edward," he said stiffly.

"Oh…" Kiki said, nodding her head. "That's sweet."

"And I noticed Mars did the same for you, so obviously he's in love with you, and that's just the end of that," Sprite said.

"What?" Kiki repeated. "Mars doesn't have any tattoos!"

Sprite rolled his eyes and sighed loudly again.

"Keiko?" he said, pointing a finger at his chest.

Kiki pulled a face at him, shaking her head.

"Mars would never get a tattoo," she assured him.

"I thought you were his bitch! Don't you even know what your own man looks like?"

"Of course I do! And Mars does not have any tattoos!"

"You are so annoying!"

Kiki sighed, stopping herself from arguing with Sprite any further, since to do so would only make having to remain imprisoned with him all the more uncomfortable and awkward for her.

"So you're in love with Edward?" she asked instead, peeking up at Sprite, hoping that her question would no aggravate him.

Sprite nodded and the angered look did appear to have faded from his face, so Kiki decided to continue on the same subject.

"That must have been why he spared you," she said. "He loves you too, right?"

Sprite shook his head.

"I was only joking when I said Edward loves Mars," Kiki lied.

"No you weren't," Sprite said quietly. "And you were right. I love Edward, Edward loves Mars and Mars loves you."

"And I love you!" Kiki said with a smile.

Sprite thinned his eyes at her and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I was just completing the little love square," she said, drawing a square in the air with her fingers. "Y'know, Mars loves me, I love you, you love Edward and Edward loves Mars."

"Yes, thanks for the reminder."

"Oh I'm sorry."

Kiki reached a hand out to touch Sprite's arm, but before she could reach him he snatched his arm out of her reach, scowling at her in disgust.

"Don't touch me, you filthy little gutter-snipe!" he hissed. "You haven't bathed in weeks, you rancid fiend!"

"Hm, I think I understand now why Edward doesn't love you back," Kiki said bluntly. "You're too much like Kevin Mask…"

"I'm like Kevin?" Sprite asked, tilting his head to one side.

Kiki suddenly burst out laughing, hurriedly clamping a hand over her mouth as Sprite's face dropped. Her body twitched with restrained laughter, and Sprite growled out a sigh of disgust.

"You wicked, wanton witch!" he spat, before turning on his heel and stomping across to the other side of the room.

Kiki turned her back on him, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself; but on her third breath she suddenly snorted and the urge to laugh overtook her. In a way, she thought to herself, having Sprite around was like having a little piece of home with her: after all, he had Mars's eyes and Kevin's way with words.

-

* * *

- 

"She was a wicked, wanton witch."

Mars shifted his golden eyes to one side, casting Kevin Mask a sceptical look.

"Are you disrespectin' my girl again?" he asked darkly.

"No," Kevin replied, shaking his head. "Although Kiki is a wicked little creature too."

Mars turned to the television, pulling a face of despair and rapidly thinning patience at it.

"Shouldn't we be someplace right now?" Mars asked, hoping to bring some degree of focus to the random outbursts Kevin had been making all evening.

"We should be training," Kevin replied.

"Nah, let's go out," Mars suggested. "Let's just go someplace and relax for a bit."

"And what do you suggest?" Kevin asked sarcastically. "We can't eat, we can't drink, we can't stay out late and anywhere we go, we're guaranteed to get hassled by fans. Especially after someone got a shot of you on top of me, which is no doubt all over the Internet by now."

"Maybe it's for sale on eBay."

Kevin stiffened and Mars began to chuckle.

"C'mon Kev, I got an idea."

Kevin watched Mars get up and cross the room to where his bag of belongings sat. He opened it to reveal a tangled mess of clothing and various other items Kevin did not really wish to inspect too closely.

"Call Jaeger for me," Mars called over his shoulder as he rummaged through his bag.

"Why?" Kevin asked. "Won't he be somewhere with that horrid McMadd woman tonight?"

"Call him, and tell him it's Super Trinities time."

"It's what?"

Mars stood up, bunches of clothing in one hand and a small plastic box in the other.

"He knows what it means," Mars said, before disappearing from the room.

Kevin sighed, turning back to the television, deciding that watching mindless crap probably was the best way to pass the evening after all. However his peace was short-lived, as he heard Mars returning to the room.

"Bloody hell!" Kevin yelped, jumping in his seat as Mars came into his line of sight. "What the devil are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"Here, I got spare, so you can play too," Mars offered, tossing a bundle of black cloth at Kevin.

Kevin looked down at the bundle as it unfurled across his legs, revealing that it was in fact a black sweater and a plastic box.

"Why?" Kevin asked, looking up at Mars. "What does dressing like that achieve?"

"We don't get hassled by fans, cause nobody expects us to look dis way," Mars said with a shrug. "I play dis game wid Kiki all da time. We call ourselves Professor and Doctor Hawkeye."

"Why?" Kevin asked again. "What does it achieve?"

"It gets us a night o' fun without interruptions from screamin' fans or drunken assholes who wanna fight wid us," Mars said flatly. "Nobody will recognise you, I promise."

"I doubt they will, because if dressing in this makes me look anything like you do right now, I'll look like a tax officer from 1985!"

"Yeah?"

Kevin pulled a face at Mars, but Mars merely shrugged in reply. Kevin slowly ran his eyes over Mars, taking in his bizarre appearance; not that his appearance was bizarre – in fact it was downright banal – but it was bizarre for a flamboyant man like Mars to look that way. He was dressed in a pair of dark Chinos, unreasonably shiny black shoes, a knitted dark brown turtle-neck sweater, his Mask of Madness was absent and his hair was slicked back, and for some entirely inexplicable reason, he was wearing rectangular black-framed glasses.

"Why?" Kevin asked again.

"Do you recognise me?" Mars asked him.

"Well, the scars on your face and your tomato-coloured hair are a bit of a giveaway…" Kevin drawled sarcastically.

"But dat's cause you know me," Mars corrected him.

Kevin pulled a face at Mars, but of course his gesture was lost behind his mask; or so he thought.

"And don't look at me like dat," Mars said to him. "Just get changed. When's Jaeger gettin' here?"

"I didn't call him," Kevin confessed, gathering up the clothes Mars had given him and standing up. "I thought you were taking the piss out of him with this crap…"

Mars cocked his head, looking over the rim of his glasses at Kevin, who sighed in defeat, trudging into the bedroom to concede to Mars's wishes despite still seeing no logic in them.

-

* * *

- 

"Fans are like poison," Mars announced.

"Ja?" Jaeger asked, turning to him curiously. "But Kiki is a wrestling fan."

"Dat's different," Mars said.

"I don't see how," Jaeger said, shaking his head.

Mars growled, before sipping at his drink. A teenage boy dressed as Spock approached their table, drawing Kevin's eyes upwards for the first time since his arrival at the bar Mars had dragged him to.

"Excuse me, do you know if the Star Trek Appreciation Society are meeting here tonight?" he asked them.

"No," Kevin answered before Mars or Jaeger could speak. "We're just the Not Getting Drunk Whilst Dressed as a Trio of Twats Society."

The boy slowly backed up, eying over all three Chojin curiously before taking a longer more thoughtful look at Kevin.

"You look familiar…" he said slowly.

"He's a professional Nick Hasler impersonator," Mars offered.

"Oh, you really are a group of losers huh?"

Kevin's jaw dropped as he watched the lanky boy wander off, one of his rubber ears flapping loosely against the side of his head.

"Why?" he asked, turning to Mars.

"Hey, he didn't know who you really are, and dat's what counts, right?" Mars returned.

"I'd be embarrassed to be recognised as myself dressed like this, drinking strawberry squash at a bar frequented by every misfit and miscreant in town," Kevin said bluntly.

"You're such a drama queen Kev, da place ain't dat bad!" Mars argued.

"Ja, Kid Muscle and his father come here every night," Jaeger added, pointing over his shoulder.

Kevin glanced briefly at Jaeger – who possibly looked even more absurd than Mars in his khaki Chinos, shiny shoes and dark blue turtleneck outfit, the look worsened by his thick-rimmed glasses and his hair which was scraped back, showing far more of his face than Kevin was accustomed to seeing – to find that, just as Jaeger had foretold, the king and prince of Muscle Planet were apparently singing a duet at the karaoke being staged near the opposite end of the bar.

"Well at least they won't recognise us either," Kevin sighed, turning back to his drink. "Because the one thing I'm really not in the mood for right now is being subjected to the Kinniku family when I'm trying to just–"

"Kid!" Jaeger yelled suddenly, waving an arm above his head. "Over here, Kid!"

Kevin groaned, smacking his forehead off the table before slumping in his seat in the hope that Kid would not notice or recognise him.

"Jaeger?" Kid asked, leaning over the table and squinting at Jaeger as though he had severe cataracts.

"Ja, I'm in disguise!" Jaeger cheerfully replied.

"Cool!" Kid replied, pulling out a seat and sitting down opposite Jaeger uninvited. "I was just celebrating. After Mars's fight tomorrow, I'm going back to Muscle Planet for a big party!"

Kevin lifted his head, fixing his eyes onto Kid, who was grinning inanely, apparently still ignorant to his or Mars's true identities.

"Is Roxanne here tonight?" Jaeger asked.

"She was, so was Meat and Marie, but for some reason, they all had to go home really early, so now it's just me and dad…"

Kid looked thoughtful for a moment, but his eyes quickly shifted to Mars, who snorted involuntarily.

"Gee, I wonder why…" Mars said as Kid met his eyes.

"Mars?" Kid asked, squinting at him and starting to lean across the table.

"It's all of us!" Kevin snapped, halting Kid's actions. "We came here for a peaceful evening, but so much for that…"

"Kevin?" Kid cried far too loudly for anyone's liking.

"Sh!" Kevin, Mars and Jaeger all hissed at him.

Kid clamped his hands over his mouth, looking about himself dramatically.

"I wanna play too!" he said once he had established that nobody had bothered looking over at his outburst. "Where did you get your funky costumes from?"

Kevin, Jaeger and Mars all gave Kid withering looks, but his enthusiasm remained unaffected.

"And for the record, it's not just Mars that's fighting tomorrow," Kevin added quietly, not wishing to let Kid believe that he had failed to notice the prince's error.

"How long have you guys been here?" Kid asked, ignoring Kevin's remark. "Did you hear me singing that Ayumi Hamasaki song? I messed up because they played the video and she was looking really hot, I couldn't concentrate on the words!"

Kevin groaned, slipping from the table unnoticed by anyone. He aimed himself in the direction of the toilets, intent on filling a sink with cold water and burying his head in it until the pain went away; but the sight of King Muscle sitting alone trying to open a small packet of peanuts caught his attention. He hesitated, watching the aging man tug and tug at the bag until it burst apart, spraying peanuts in every direction. To Kevin's disgust, King Muscle then opened his mouth and swayed about in his seat, attempting to catch the falling nuts. More of the peanuts fell into his eyes than his mouth, but he smiled regardless, munching on what little he had recovered. He then caught sight of Kevin watching him, squinting at him curiously. With a small sigh, and the knowledge that he would soon painfully regret his next course of action, Kevin made his was over to King Muscle's table.

"Hello," Kevin said flatly, sitting down in a seat facing the Muscle League Legend.

"Hey…" King Muscle said slowly, studying Kevin carefully.

"It's me, Kevin Mask," Kevin offered.

"I thought I knew that face!" King Muscle said, clapping his hands cheerfully. "You look so much like your father! Only your hair is different! You look like "Mr Barracuda"!"

King Muscle began to laugh at his own joke, but Kevin felt his stomach twist as he was sharply reminded why he had approached the crazy monarch. Removing his pointless glasses and pushing his fingers through his hair, Kevin took a deep breath to ask his next question.

"I was just kidding, Kevin," King Muscle interrupted him, his face growing serious. "Your father was a worthy adversary of mine for many years, and your mother was a wonderful woman."

Kevin lowered his eyes to the table, his plan suddenly thrown into turmoil. The last thing he wanted to do right then was discuss his mother, least of all with an idiot like King Muscle.

"I'm really sorry about your brother," King Muscle continued, oblivious to Kevin's pains. "But both you and your father were less than good men when you started your wrestling careers, maybe Edward will see sense after tomorrow."

"I don't know about that," Kevin replied. "Edward was taken to the DMP was he was eight years old, he literally grew up there. And besides, I didn't come over here to discuss Edward."

"Y'know, you are very like your father, but you took your mother's colouring, and Edward is very like your mother, but he is more like your father's colouring."

"Yes, thanks for the reminder."

"You and your brother don't look alike really. You are really just like your father and he is just like your mother."

"Right. I get it."

"Mantaro is meant to wear his mask all the time, but on the times I've seen him without it, he looks like his mother."

Kevin growled, his fists balling at his sides. He wondered if he bore a subconscious desire to punch King Muscle, and decided that before he found out the answer, he ought to finish what he had tried to start.

"I've been looking for Amy, and I wondered if you knew where she is," he said hurriedly, locking his eyes onto King Muscle.

"Who?" King Muscle echoed, staring back at him dumbly.

"Amy," Kevin repeated slowly.

"Amy?" King Muscle said, shaking his head. "Who's Amy?"

Kevin turned his head away, clenching his fists tighter still and trying his hardest to contain himself.

"Amy MacLeod," he recovered, turning back to King Muscle. "Your chef?"

"Chef?" King Muscle repeated, brightening at the sound of the word. "My chef? My chef is a genius!"

"Where is she?" Kevin asked patiently.

"Where's my chef?" King Muscle asked.

"Yes!" Kevin snarled. "Where is your chef?"

"In my kitchen!" King Muscle replied, as though the answer should have been obvious. "Chef is preparing for my return to Muscle Planet. We're having a big party, you see."

"Amy went back to Muscle Planet?"

"We had a bit a disagreement about it… I tried to send Chef back when I first arrived on Earth, but she refused to go. Then last week, I found Chef living with Meat and Marie, and I told her to just go back to Muscle Planet, but Chef refused again… But I got a message from my wife today to say that Chef is working on the menu for our big party, so she must be back now."

Kevin slowly nodded his head.

"You weren't trying to steal my chef for yourself were you Kevin?" King Muscle asked, leaning across the table and exhaling a forceful, garlic-scented breath towards Kevin that lifted his hair from his shoulders.

"Her name is Amy," Kevin said quietly, looking into King Muscle's eyes. "And she's not just a chef."

Kevin pushed out his chair and got to his feet, walking out of the bar entirely, walking until he reached the edge of the road. Outside it was dark and the streets were moderately busy, but the ridiculous disguise Mars had made him wear appeared to be working, because nobody was even giving him a second look.

"Hey Kev, whatcha doin' out here, huh?"

Kevin looked over his shoulder to see Mars approaching him, looking disturbingly like the professor he was pretending to be – albeit a professor at a university for vampires, as his eyes were striking against the night air and his slicked hair and visible fangs completed the look.

"Mars, did you know that Amy went back to Muscle Planet?" Kevin asked, trying to ignore Mars's totally uncharacteristic attire.

"Sure," Mars replied, nodding his head.

"What?" Kevin snapped, frowning darkly at Mars.

"Yeah, when I was out wid da boys I met up wid her at Beverly Park. She said she had to be off da planet by mid-night. Ain't dat why she came by for a little nookie wid you? Cause dat was gonna be da last time she ever saw you?"

Kevin opened his hands, the glasses he had slightly crumpled in his fist earlier falling to the ground and shattering.

"You knew that she was leaving?" he said quietly

"Yeah, sure," Mars replied, nodding his head. "She had to go back, she works for King Muscle, remember?"

"And you knew that she came to see me right before she was due to leave?" Kevin asked, his tone unchanged.

"Yeah, I heard she was headin' your way."

"And you knew that she wanted to be alone with me, and yet still you came and interrupted us, insulted us and spoiled the moment."

"Yeah!"

Mars laughed, slapping Kevin on the shoulder.

"Dat was funny, huh?" he said.

"Even though you knew that was my last chance to ever have some time alone with her," Kevin added.

"Kev, da girl was ugly!" Mars snorted. "She was real moody and uptight too! You gotta meet Jade, Trixie's sister, now she's a hot piece o' ass! And she ain't got no attitude!"

Kevin slowly turned to Mars, his teeth clenching together, his fingers slowly curling around as his hands once more formed fists at his sides.

"How could you?"

Mars frowned at Kevin, before laughing a little more.

"Huh?" he asked.

"How could you?" Kevin repeated.

"What are ya talkin' about?" Mars asked, shrugging innocently.

"I liked Amy," Kevin growled. "You knew that I liked Amy, I always liked Amy! And you ruined that for me!"

Mars's face slowly straightened and he adjusted himself into a stiffer stance, pushing his chest out a little.

"What's your point, Kevin?" he asked slowly. "Cause you did exactly da same thing to me in my match against Kid Muscle three years ago."

"How can you possibly compare these two things?" Kevin snapped. "You were a member of the DMP playing tricks on the Muscle League and toying with that poor girl's affections! You broke her heart with your lies, if I hadn't told everyone the truth when I did, she would never have forgiven you!"

"She did forgive me, you asshole!" Mars roared. "She came back to see me after da match! We was gonna run away together! If you had kept your big mouth shut, she never woulda had second thoughts and stayed here wid dat idiot Bambi!"

"She would have found out the truth about you sooner or later!" Kevin yelled back. "I never lied to Amy about who or what I was, and I've known her longer than you've known Kiki even now! I have never wilfully stood between you and Kiki and prevented your happiness, yet you continue to do just that to me and Amy! I even took your stupid girlfriend in after she crashed into my motorbike and destroyed it beyond all repair!"

"Took her in? What da hell are you talkin' about?"

"The night you and I had a fight in the bar, during the Chojin Crown, and you ran off! After you left, Kiki appeared and drove over my motorbike! She got drunk and locked herself out of her own hotel, I could have just left her to figure it out on her own – I should have just left her, after she obliterated my bike – but I took her back to my hotel and I let her sleep in my bed, even though she did call me Nick Hasler and spent the night acting like a wanton little hussy!"

Mars narrowed his eyes, a dark, dangerous look appearing on his face that Kevin could barely recall from Mars's DMP days.

"You did what wid my girl?" he growled out quietly.

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"You slept wid Kiki?" Mars asked, advancing on Kevin. "You took my girl to a hotel and slept wid her?"

Mars grabbed handfuls of Kevin's sweater and tugged him forwards sharply, almost causing their heads to collide.

"I didn't sleep with her!" Kevin argued. "Or at least, not in the way that you're implying! And at least I was there to help her when she was going insane over what you did to her, where the hell were you? Clocking up loyalty points at The Palace?"

"You son of a bitch."

Mars thrust his arms forwards, sending Kevin flying backwards, where he collided with a bench, falling ungracefully as he tried to grab onto it to stop his descent.

"You better get up off your ass Mask, cause I ain't done wid you yet," Mars warned.

"Mars, don't be so bloody stupid!" Kevin returned, pulling himself up against the bench. "We can't be doing this the night before a big fight! We have to work as a team, and we have to be at one hundred percent to face our opponents!"

"One hundred percent?" Mars scoffed. "Hey, in case you forgot, we're fightin' Eddie and da pussycat. When I was in da DMP, I could take out both of dose guys wid my hands tied behind my back, I don't even need you tomorrow."

"We're doing this for Kiki remember?"

"Who cares? I'm takin' my girl back tomorrow no matter what else happens!"

"So what, you don't care if Edward beats you in the ring?"

"He ain't gonna beat me. But I'm gonna beat you right here, right now for what you did to my girl!"

"Mars, it was nothing like that, I promise, we just–"

Kevin's words were cut short as Mars punched him in the jaw, sending him stumbling onto the road, where a taxi was forced to swerve around him, the driver blaring his horn and shouting abuse out his window at Kevin.

"Mars!" Kevin snapped, touching a hand to his lip, angered to find it bloodied. "Stop this!"

"Says who?" Mars asked sarcastically. "Da "Leader of da Muscle League"? You asshole, you don't know shit!"

Mars aimed another punch at Kevin's face, but Kevin caught the blow in the palm of one hand, punching his other hand into Mars's gut, causing him to double over.

"What did you just say?" Kevin asked quietly, tightening his grip on Mars's fist. "I don't know shit? I don't know shit about what, exactly?"

"You ain't da leader o' nothin'…" Mars said darkly.

Kevin stiffened, suddenly wishing he had not punched Mars in the gut, as Mars was still bent over, his face obscured from Kevin's view.

"I'm da real leader around here," Mars added. "I'm da one everybody comes to, I'm da one givin' orders, and everybody knows your victory at da Chojin Crown was just a joke."

Mars slowly straightened up, grinning maliciously at Kevin.

"You spend all your time on your own, you never talk to nobody, you don't know shit about what's really goin' down," he said.

Kevin froze, a sickening sensation washing over him. He suddenly heard Edward's voice echoing around his mind with his warning about "the black heart of a Devil Chojin", the look on Mars's face doing little to reassure him. Even though he was dressed as a conservative executive of sorts, Mars still looked positively menacing and malevolent.

"You ain't as smart as you like to think you are, Mask," Mars added. "Dere's a whole lotta stuff you don't know about."

"Well if you aren't going to fill me in, maybe I ought to just beat it out of you," Kevin calmly replied.

"Maybe you oughta, cause dat's da only way you're gettin' me to talk."

Kevin inwardly cursed Mars for calling his bluff – he had no desire to fight his own opponent the night before a big match – but equally, he was growing increasingly worried by Mars's implied meaning.

"Have it your way, scarface!" Kevin snarled, tugging Mars's arm forwards and hitting him hard with a clothesline that made Mars's neck snap back.

Mars fell to the ground, but kicked Kevin's legs as he tried to approach him, before quickly leaping to his feet again. Mars leapt at Kevin, swinging a fist around through empty air as Kevin ducked out of his range. Kevin elbowed Mars in the back, intentionally aiming for and successfully hitting the old scar Mars bore from rescuing Kevin during their endurance test at The Academy.

"You dirty rat!" Mars choked out. "I got dat savin' your sorry ass!"

"You asked for this!" Kevin shot back, grabbing the back of Mars's sweater and pulling him back.

Kevin roughly released Mars, who staggered a little before leaping into the air and throwing himself hard at Kevin, sending them both crashing through the window of the bar. As they hit the floor of the bar they rolled over each other, punching and kicking wildly. People began jumping through the broken window from the street outside, a sizeable audience soon forming around the warring Chojins; but the struggle did not last long as Jaeger, Kid Muscle and his father hurriedly intervened, pulling them apart.

"Vot are you doing, Mars?" Jaeger yelled as he pushed Mars back from Kevin.

"Get your hands off of me!" Kevin snarled as Kid pushed him in the opposite direction.

Kid yelped and released Kevin, but King Muscle continued to push.

"You as well!" Kevin snapped at him.

"Nein, you mustn't do zhis!" Jaeger called over his shoulder to Kevin.

"Hey, da kid's right Kev," Mars said, holding up his hands in defeat. "We can't let Eddie's dumb little mind games poison us like he's done to everybody else."

Kevin growled angrily, but relaxed and stopped pushing. After a few seconds King Muscle stepped back from him, leaving him free. Jaeger slowly stepped away from Mars, who was still holding up his hands in an apparent truce offering.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said quietly as he caught the two Kinnikus glaring at him. "It was just a little disagreement."

"Hey Mask," Mars said.

"Yes?" Kevin asked, looking up at Mars, who had moved over to his side.

"Disagree wid dis!"

Kevin gasped, his eyesight blurring dangerously for a second as he suddenly found himself reliving the searing pain of an attack Mars had delivered during their match in the final round of the Chojin Crown. Looking down to the source of his pain, Kevin saw a tear in his sweater and part of the scar in his side reopened. He turned to Mars, who flung a hand forwards, stabbing a knife into a nearby table.

"You say don't need nobody," Mars said. "Well nobody needs you."

He turned his back on Kevin and walked out of the bar. Kevin watched him go, desperation gripping him as sickly sweat burst out over his body.

"Kevin, are you okay?" Kid wailed.

"I'm fine," Kevin lied. "I'm going home, excuse me."

Kevin hobbled with as much dignity as he could from the bar, aiming himself on a course for Amy's apartment. He hoped that Mars would spend the night somewhere else, and he prayed that Amy had left some kind of pain-relief medication in her apartment, as he foresaw a long, uncomfortable night ahead of himself.

-

* * *

- 

**Next Chapter:** It's D-Day for the Bad Blood Tournament, tensions are high all round as both teams prepare for the big event; Edward appears to have gone completely mad, Mars has a nasty surprise for Kevin and Kiki predicts trouble for the Muscle League. **Chapter 24 – Power Struggle**.

**A/N(2):** Damn you Edward, why? Why did you stop and restart the tournament?! All these fight chapters, grr!!! Also, I've noticed that I have a disease that has made me unable to let go of this series, because the next chapter alludes to a sequel… Which will not be written, damnit!!!


	24. Power Struggle

**A/N:** As far as I am aware (and according to the BBC) sleeping pills are not a "banned drug" for athletes.

Edward quotes the song _Power Struggle_ by Sunna. Because all my UM fics are named after/based on songs with the exception of _Kinniku Roxanne_; although in the case of this one, it was a lucky coincidence that I later found a song of the same name that fitted the story. Also, Mars quotes _This is Why I'm Hot_ by Mims, just because it's so apt.

**Recap:** Kevin and Mars made amends and went out for a relaxing evening that quickly turned sour when Mars misunderstood Kevin's retelling of the night he had shared a hotel room with Kiki. A vicious fight ensued that ended with Mars reopening Kevin's wound from the Chojin Crown.

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 24 – Power Struggle**

Kevin awoke to the sound of voices in the next room, which at first led him to believe that he had accidentally left the television switched on; but he could not remember switching the television on in the first place, and the voices sounded familiar. Kevin opened his eyes sharply, looking about himself. He was in Amy's bedroom, which was as he had expected to be, but he was suddenly surrounded by clean bed linen. He distinctly remembered making a terrible job of attempting to cover the injury Mars had given him using a T-shirt, before collapsing into Amy's bed and quickly staining the sheets with blood.

Kevin sat up sharply and flung the covers aside, yelping as he found himself stripped to his underwear, his mid-section expertly bandaged. Kevin knew that even his own, typically rather good, first aid skills did not extend as far as creating such a good dressing, and he knew he had been too dazed the night before to have changed the bed sheets, undressed himself and treated his wound properly anyway; which meant that someone else must have come to his aid.

Kevin quickly got out of bed and padded through to the sitting room, wiping his hair back from his face and squinting incredulously at the two people sat on the sofa drinking tea and chatting to each other quite casually, as though it was natural thing for them to be present in the same home as Kevin.

"What the devil are you doing here?" he demanded.

They both turned to Kevin, falling silent at his interruption.

"What's going on here?"

Kevin moved further into the room, looking about himself suspiciously.

"How did you get in here anyway?" he added. "I don't remember letting you in!"

"You didn't. Hiroshi did."

"He was worried about you, Kevin."

Kevin glanced back and forth between the two sat before him, feeling no more at ease at what he had heard.

"I cleaned up your wound for you, Kevin."

"And I changed your bed."

"I didn't need your help. Either of you."

Kevin folded his arms defensively, narrowing his eyes at them both.

"The location of your match arrived."

"It's not far Kevin, but we'll have to leave soon."

"We?"

Kevin snatched the piece of paper from the arm of the sofa, quickly scanning through the details Edward had faxed.

"Oita, fine," he concluded, nodding his head.

Kevin frowned as he found his two unwanted guests watching him expectantly.

"Since you're here, and since you both apparently know better than I do, where's Mars?" Kevin asked them. "And what is he doing?"

Robin Mask started to stand but Kevin quickly held up a hand to halt his action.

"Don't patronise me," he said.

"Kevin, we did what was best for you," Warsman offered.

"I didn't expect to wake up to this," Kevin said bluntly.

"How about I make you an energy drink?" Robin offered.

"No," Kevin said stubbornly. "Just… Leave me alone."

Kevin marched out of the room and into the bathroom, intent on taking a long, hot shower; but as he made to close to door he suddenly found it stuck. Turning back, he saw his father's foot lodged against the door.

"What are you doing?" he asked, scowling at him.

"You can't shower," Robin replied. "You can't take that bandage off."

"What?" Kevin echoed. "I'm going into a wrestling match in a few hours, I'm going to have to take it off sooner of later."

"You need to keep that bandage on," Robin said slowly.

"During my match?" Kevin asked.

Robin nodded solemnly.

"Are you mad?" Kevin yelled. "I can't go into a fight wearing a big sign that says "attack me here"!"

Kevin made a noise of disgust before grabbing at the bandages and tugging them from his body. He did not get far however before Robin grabbed his wrists, halting his actions. Kevin slowly lifted his head, locking his eyes onto his father's masked visage.

"Let go of me," he said, pronouncing each word slowly and deliberately.

"Kevin, don't be irrational," Robin replied carefully. "You can't fight with a big gash showing on your body."

"Why not?" Kevin asked, quirking an eyebrow at his father. "Is it embarrassing to you?"

Robin hesitated and Kevin began to smile.

"It's not embarrassing to me," he said. "I'm not ashamed of shedding a bit of blood. I'm not the noble man in the iron mask that you claim to be."

Kevin tugged his wrists from his father's grasp and removed the remainder of his dressing, looking down at the source of his problems. What he saw was not as bad as he had feared it might be, the cut was quite shallow after all; but it was extensive, running almost the full length of his old scar. Mars had aimed his attack well, especially as the wound had been hidden from view at the time of his attack.

"Damn Mars…" Kevin grumbled.

"Wash your face and brush your hair, you don't need a shower," Robin suggested.

"Brush my hair?" Kevin echoed, the reference seeming quite obscure.

"You look a little unkempt," Robin added.

Kevin pulled a face at his father, for once glad that he was without his mask and his expressions could be plainly seen.

"Marsh caught a flight after the fax arrived," Robin said slowly. "You need to hurry, Kevin."

"Mars woke up before me?" Kevin asked in disbelief. "And he's on his way to Oita already?"

"Shon, you don't have very long," Robin replied. "We shedated you to keep you calm, you've been ashleep for a long time."

"You did what?" Kevin echoed. "You sedated me? You can't drug me before a match! Are you out of your mind?"

"You'll be fine, but you do have to hurry."

"If I'm so late, why didn't you wake me sooner?"

Kevin turned away from his father, taking another step into the bathroom.

"I need to use the toilet, go away!" he growled over his shoulder.

Robin obediently backed out of the room and closed the door. Kevin backed up to the door, locking it shut and leaning against it, turning to the mirror at his side to inspect his wound a little better. As he looked at the reflection of his injury, he could not help but ponder Mars's words from the night before.

"My opponents have got a chip on their shoulder and my team-mate is planning a mutiny," he grumbled aloud. "It's just one big mess of a power struggle. I never even wanted to be in the Muscle League to begin with, and it's brought me nothing but trouble ever since I joined… I was better off in the DMP…"

"No you weren't."

"Get away from the door!"

Kevin raised a fist at the door, before catching his reflection and realising how ridiculous he looked, threatening to punch an inanimate object.

"You need to hurry."

"I know! Just… Stop listening at the door, I'm not a child any more!"

Kevin sighed, shaking his head as he realised that he was inevitably going to be accompanied to the Kyushu Oil Dome in Oita – the location Edward had chosen for the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament – by both his father and Warsman, and so he was going to have to attempt to be civil to them both.

And once he arrived at his destination, he was going to have to confront Mars.

-

* * *

-

"I am trusting you. If you let me down, it's all over. Do you understand?"

Sprite nodded his head, his face probably the most solemn Kiki had ever seen it look. He looked even more ridiculous than usual, dressed in tight-fitting blue jeans, ankle boots with heels that clicked when he walked and a brilliant cerise sweater with a wide neckline that looked worryingly to Kiki like a sweater she had seen Trixie wearing during the Chojin Crown. Sprite had his hair tied back and a small cap on his head, which Kiki assumed he wore to help hide the bandages still attached to the wounds on his face. He was still limping and irritable – or at least, more irritable than he usually seemed to be – and so Kiki decided that he must be in a lot of pain, and merely acting brave for Edward's sake.

"Don't let 'er out of your sight," Fargo added, pointing a clawed finger at Sprite's nose.

Sprite snapped a bite at Fargo's finger, but Fargo quickly curled his finger around into a fist, watching Sprite with mild interest.

"Failure is not an option today," Edward reminded his tag team partner.

"Pff! 'Ave I ever failed you?" Fargo asked, grinning confidently.

"This is where it all begins," Edward said, before drawing in a deep breath. "Today I will destroy Kevin, take Mars back to the DMP and then I will destroy Robin Mask."

Sprite stole a glance at Kiki, who frowned at him questioningly; but as quickly as he looked at her in concern, he turned away again with a groan of disgust, leaving her feeling even more confused than ever. Edward thrust out one hand, slamming shut the door to his locker, revealing a poster that sent a wave of nostalgia crashing over Kiki; it was a poster from the Chojin Crown, one used to promote the release of the IWF novel _Kevin Mask – The Reason_. It seemed odd to Kiki that Edward should want a poster of his hated elder brother in his locker room, but as Edward turned to face the image of his brother and began to talk, Kiki suddenly remembered the one thing that she had apparently been forgetting that day: Edward was completely insane.

"I will be here when you are gone, so I have the right to a power gorge," he said to the poster. "And I will be good at making bad and I'll light the way for the fucking mad, I will defeat what I'm heading for and I will be here for evermore."

Kiki bit her lip to stop herself from adding "I hope not" onto the end of Edward's speech. A second later, he began again.

"Cause I was made to fly, and you were meant to die."

Kiki and Sprite both yelped and jerked in their position sat on a bench as Edward suddenly kicked a booted foot into the metal door, the resounding clang numbing Kiki's ears.

"Edward Mask and Fargo, five minute warning, Edward Mask and Fargo."

Edward turned to Fargo, who smiled at him confidently.

"That's our call," Edward said casually. "We're out first. We figured Kevin and Mars needed the extra couple of minutes to prepare themselves. Enjoy their entrance, Miss Nonaka, because I guarantee neither will be the same after this match is over."

Kiki growled, watching through slitted eyes as Edward and Fargo left the room.

"He never told me he was planning to bring Mars back to the DMP," Sprite said gently once they had gone.

"Mars won't go back to the DMP!" Kiki insisted.

"What about all those things he said at Disneyland?"

Kiki sighed loudly, closing her eyes and hanging her head in despair. She silently hoped that the match was over quickly and that Mars and Kevin left Edward and Fargo seriously incapacitated; because she really had not liked what little she had heard of Edward's plan of action for if he were to lose that day.

-

* * *

-

Kevin paced back and forth, partly worried that if he stopped moving, he might pass out. Since arriving in Oita and being rush to the Kyushu Oil Dome by his father and Warsman, Kevin had not seen any other member of the Muscle League, least of all his tag team partner for the upcoming bout; but he did not have to wonder about Mars's whereabouts for much longer, as the door to his locker room opened and Mars appeared, dressed ready for their fight.

"Do come in," Kevin said with a sigh as Mars entered regardless.

Kevin forced himself to sit on the bench in the centre of the room, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. Mars sat down next to him quietly, but neither looked up.

"I hear Oita serves puffer-fish intestines," Mars said casually.

Kevin narrowed his eyes, at first unsure of how to respond to Mars's sudden attempt at small talk.

"Mars, we have to stop doing this," he said carefully. "Both of us. We have to stop pretending that everything is fine, when quite clearly it's not. Right now, neither of us trust each other, and that's bad."

"You started all dis by jumpin' in to save your brother!" Mars yelled, standing up and kicking Kevin's bag of clothing across the room, scattering the contents. "You did dat, I got mad and ran off, you wouldn't let me forget about it, and den you started fightin' wid me over dat dumb cook!"

"This isn't about Amy, or Kiki, or anyone else!"

Kevin stood up and Mars rounded on him, the two suddenly standing uncomfortably close in the claustrophobically small room.

"It's about us," Kevin said quietly. "You can't stand being second to me, you never could."

"I was never second to you," Mars corrected him. "Not until you fluked a win over me at da Chojin Crown!"

"I didn't "fluke" anything," Kevin grumbled, deeply resenting the accusation. "I worked harder than you and I won the match, it was as simple as that! If it bothers you so much, work a little harder, and maybe next time you'll be crowned champion! Then you can know what it's like to play babysitter to the Muscle League idiots, because let me tell you right now, it's nearly as easy as it looks, mate!"

Mars pulled a face at Kevin, at first looking at Kevin as though he had just said something absurd.

"What were you bleating on about earlier anyway?" Kevin asked, deciding to capitalise on Mars's apparent confusion. "What do those idiots talk to you about that they don't tell me?"

"Next time?" Mars asked slowly, his face turning into one of optimistic curiosity. "What do ya mean, "next time"?"

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"You said next time," Mars said. "What next time? You won da Chojin Crown, it's too late to change dat now, right? Da time for appeals is long over."

Kevin rolled his eyes impatiently as he suddenly understood what Mars was asking him.

"I meant at the next Chojin Crown," he explained. "It's three and a half years away. After today, you better start working if you want to beat me, because I will be there to defend my title."

"Da next Chojin Crown?" Mars asked. "Dere's another one?"

"They hold them every four years, they only stopped because of the gapingly huge age gap between the last generation and ours, but now they've started hosting them again."

"So I get another shot?"

"Of course you do."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I get another chance to beat your ass in da ring?"

"Yes, and can I suggest that you save "beating my ass" until that time?"

Mars grinned at Kevin in a manner almost goofy enough to be worthy of Kid Muscle.

"You know I don't really need a wife with you around," Kevin said with a sigh. "You spend my money, live in my house, steal my bike, sulk with me if I say something wrong… And you're a bird…"

"Dat ain't funny," Mars said, thinning his eyes. "You been doin' dat a lot lately, bein' a smart-ass. It ain't like you. What gives?"

Kevin shook his head.

"I've been living with you for too long," he said.

"See, dere you go again," Mars responded.

"That wasn't a joke, Mars."

"And again!"

"Well, my mother always said she had to laugh sometimes, or else she would cry, and there was more fun to be had laughing…"

Kevin paused, taking a deep breath and pushing thoughts of his mother and Edward's striking resemblance to her to the back of his mind.

"Oh for goodness sake Mars, let's just concentrate on getting through today," he said with finality. "Let's just beat Edward and get this over with. I just want to go back home."

"Yeah, and once we get Kiki back, we can all go back to London again," Mars replied.

Kevin suppressed a groan at the thought of living with Kiki again. Despite what Mars told him, Kevin was certain that Kiki deliberately did things to annoy him, and the more she saw her little antics get a reaction, the more tricks she appeared to play on him.

"I got a lot on my mind right now," Mars added quietly. "Seein' Eddie and his dumb little friends again was real bad. I been tryin' real hard, and I got a lot I got to deal wid. I'm really worried about Kiki too. I just wanted her to meet my family and den we was gonna get married."

"What?" Kevin yelped involuntarily, turning to Mars sharply on his last words. "You're getting married?"

"Well yeah," Mars replied, his face a little too amused for Kevin's liking.

"But…" Kevin began, fighting to find the right words. "I just… Never thought that you were the marrying type, I suppose."

"I ain't," Mars said flatly. "We ain't gettin' married cause we wanna, we're gettin' married cause we gotta."

Kevin pulled a face at Mars, a move that was of course wasted behind his mask.

"What do you mean "you gottta"?" he said. "Nobody is forcing you to do it!"

"Well, ya know…" Mars said slowly, his grin widening. "Birth control is only effective 99 times outta 100, and dat's a bullet I've been dodgin' for a long time now."

Kevin slowly began to feel sick and terrified. His body became cold and yet he began to sweat. Against his will, his mind began spawning images of miniature Mars and Kiki figures dancing about his home dressed in lurid green and red Hello Kitty pyjamas and tiny replicas of Mars's Mask of Madness, breaking ornaments, crying, screaming, fighting, eating with their hands, pulling his hair, hugging him and calling him "uncle Kevvy". Kevin gulped loudly, an involuntary shudder passing over his body.

"So now you know," Mars said with a shrug, his smirk still present. "I wasn't supposed to tell nobody until after we got married, but I figure you ain't gonna tell nobody anyways."

"Children?" Kevin said, earning himself a headache just pronouncing the word out loud.

"We was gonna name him Nick," Mars added, sniggering a little. "After you!"

"Now who's being a smart-arse?" Kevin snapped irritably.

Mars nodded, his eyes lowering to the reopened wound in Kevin's side.

"I guess I still gotta long way to go before I become one of da good guys, huh?" he said quietly.

"You didn't cut me deeply, but you did use a weapon and you did reopen an injury you made in the first place, both of which are dishonourable," Kevin replied.

Mars nodded again, before patting a hand against Kevin's armoured shoulder. Kevin turned to him, surprised to find that Mars was not hitting him with his usual unrestrained strength.

"We're buddies, yeah?" he said as Kevin met his eyes.

"I think we always will be," Kevin replied. "Although you are going to have to learn some self-control. Especially if you are about to be a fa… A fath… A fa… Oh God, I can't even bring myself to say it!"

Kevin walked over to the door of the locker room, sighing slowly.

"Kevin Mask and Mars, five minute warning, Kevin Mask and Mars."

Mars walked over to join Kevin, opening the door in front of them.

"You're right Kev, we will always be buddies," he said with a smile. "Because it don't ever get any less funny watchin' ya squirm."

"What?" Kevin echoed, lifting his head sharply and glaring at Mars.

"Dere ain't no baby, I was just messin' wid ya," Mars said, before grinning slyly and ducking out into the hallway as Kevin began to seethe with anger.

"You're not funny! You never were!"

"I am a lot better lookin' dan you though."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm just sayin'. I'm hot cause I'm fly, you ain't cause you're not."

Kevin sighed, walking out after Mars as he started towards the Gorilla Position.

"Eddie better not play any more games today," Mars added as they neared their destination.

"What else can he possibly do to us now?" Kevin returned. "He's messed with all our heads by every means possible the last few weeks, there's nothing else he could do that could get a rise out of any of us. After today, it's all over."

-

* * *

-

"Welcome fight fans to the Kyushu Oil Dome here in Oita city, I'm Mac Metaphor, broadcasting live around the world, and this is the final round of the Bad Blood Tournament!"

"It took a long time to finally get here Mac, but this is indeed the much anticipated final round match-up: it's the Muscle League tag team of Kevin Mask and Mars against the DMP tag team of Edward Mask and Fargo."

"And Doc, the Muscle League have been on a winning streak of late, will they continue that success here today in Oita?"

"Well Mac, Kevin Mask is the reigning Chojin Crown Champion and Mars was the runner-up to that title so I wanna say yes. But nobody has seen Edward Mask or Fargo in action yet, so we can't count them out of the game just yet Mac."

"IWF chairman Ikeman McMadd is on his way to ringside now Doc, looks like this one is about to begin!"

"But why Roxanne!" Kid wailed. "You never wore a Kinniku mask to any of my fights!"

Roxanne sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Allow me, Rox," Trixie offered, leaning past her to face Kid Muscle directly. "Kid, the Kinniku masks for sale stink of that thing the dentists sucker over your face before they gas you to sleep, and they make you sweat, and the eyeholes are so small nobody can see out of them clearly."

"And they make us look like a pig," Jacqueline added.

"They make us look like you, Kid," Trixie said.

"Which was my point exactly," Jacqueline said with a shrug.

"Whereas these are made of velvet and they look awesome!" Trixie said with a smile, stroking a hand over her imitation Mask of Madness.

"Ja, and zhis von is made of feathers!" Jaeger added, leaning into Kid's line of sight to reveal that he was wearing a yellow Mask of Madness that covered his eyes, looking like Mars's activated Mask of Madness.

"Meat, my mask is cool too, right?" Kid whimpered, turning to his manager for support.

Meat looked up at him in silence, his jaw hanging open.

"Meat!" Kid snapped, stamping a foot moodily.

"Sure Kid!" Meat recovered. "Ya look just like your father!"

Kid turned in his seat to look at the Legends sat behind them, studying his father for a moment before turning back to the ring.

"I want a new gimmick," he concluded. "This mask isn't cool any more."

"Hey come on now, Kid!" Meat protested. "That mask is tradition!"

"It smells like my bellybutton, I don't like it any more!" Kid moaned.

"So what are you going to wear instead?" Trixie asked him, winking at Roxanne.

"I was thinking a knight's helmet, like Kevin Mask," Kid replied. "And also a crown, like Checkmate. And a golden visor over my eyes, like Mars. And a green helmet on top, like Jaeger. In fact, put the crown on top of the helmet. And a winged cloak, like Mars. And leather hotpants, because I have a beautiful body, and I don't show it enough. And maybe some new boots. Something black and leathery. And I'm going to ride to the ring on a motorbike, like Kevin."

"Kevin doesn't ride to the ring on a motorbike," Roxanne corrected him.

"And a tattoo," Kid added, ignoring his wife's interception. "And some piercings."

"Piercings?" Trixie repeated. "Nowhere on your head I hope? After all, nobody would see it under your mask, crown, helmet, visor and whatever else."

"My nipples."

"What?" Meat and Roxanne both echoed in unison.

"And Meat will dress like a pig."

"What?" Meat snapped. "Why a pig?"

"Because I'm the road-hog, on my bike, riding to freedom. It's symbolic."

"More like idiotic," Jacqueline muttered.

"You all wait and see. At the next tournament we're forced to fight in, Mantaro "The Hog" Kinniku will be the most popular wrestler."

"I thought you was doin' all this to get away from lookin' like a hog in the first place?" Terry said dryly. "So why would you wanna go and call yourself "The Hog"?"

Kid paused, a thoughtful look passing over his face.

"Aw, man!" he complained. "No fair!"

Terry opened his mouth to argue the point, but he was cut off as Ikeman began to announce the entrance of The Anarchists.

"Hey…" Terry said instead, looking about himself for a moment before standing up and stretching onto his toes, looking all around the audience.

"What are you doing?" Dik Dik asked him.

"The Anarchists ain't here," he said, sitting back down. "None of 'em."

"That's because we beat them, they've run off scared!" Dik Dik said with a confident smirk.

Before any of the other Muscle Leaguers could voice their opinions on the matter, a chorus of booing arose from the audience, almost entirely drowning out the entrance music of Edward Mask and Fargo, who were making their way down the gangway towards the ring.

"This is it guys," Roxanne said solemnly, as they all rose to their feet. "The final at last. Soon Kiki will be free, and that bastard Edward will be out of our lives for good!"

"Roxanne!" Marie hissed.

"Oh mom I'm sorry, but he is a bastard!" Roxanne replied.

"He's run out of tricks to play now though," Jacqueline said with a smile. "Now he has to face Mars and Kevin. He hurt us all every way he knew how, but now he's run out of options."

Terry turned to Trixie, gently putting an arm around her shoulder. She snaked an arm around his back, resting her head on his shoulder. Roxanne took hold of Kid's hand, smiling at him warmly, and Jaeger put an arm around Jacqueline.

Inside the ring, Ikeman was looking increasingly nervous as The Anarchists drew closer, his fingers fidgeting with his cue cards as he shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot. But Edward and Fargo were oblivious to his sufferings as they made their way into the ring. Instead they walked over to the side of the ring facing the Muscle Leaguers in the audience, turning to face them directly. They stood still and silent, looking down at the Muscle League, leaving their rivals feeling confused and unsettled. Trixie turned her head away, burying her face into Terry's neck, and Roxanne and Jacqueline both averted their eyes.

"And in the blue corner, the Muscle League tag team of Mars and Kevin Mask!" Ikeman said in a scratchy voice before dashing from the ring and taking his place behind the officials' table.

The music changed and the audience shifted from boos and cries of anger to cheers as Mars and Kevin started towards the ring. The Muscle Leaguers glanced nervously between the DMP faction inside the ring, who were still staring at them, and the approaching Muscle League tag team, who had been less than united as a team of late, leaving their fellow Justice Chojins feeling more than a little apprehensive.

As Mars and Kevin reached the ringside area they stopped, looking up at the ring at their opponents, who finally turned to face them. There was a short pause before Mars and Kevin turned to each other and Mars nodded his head. Kevin held out his hand to Mars who shook it, tugging him forwards and patting him on the back in a semi-hug. The show of solidarity came as relief to everyone watching on, but as Kevin stepped up into the ring and Mars took his place on the ring apron in their corner, a collective gasp and ripple of hushed whisperings spread over the arena at the sight of the vicious wound Kevin bore in his side.

The bell rang to signify the start of the match and Kevin took a step back, anticipating a dual attack as had been The Anarchists' previous methodology; but Edward stepped back out through the ropes, leaving his partner to confront Kevin alone.

"Keveen!" Fargo said with a smile, stalking around the ring in a circle.

Kevin copied his action, walking around and maintaining the distance between them.

"Long time no see, my friend! Much 'as changed since ve saw you last!"

"So I see," Kevin dryly replied. "You appear to be even uglier and even more obnoxious than ever."

Fargo's smile faltered a little.

"I missed you too, Keveen," he said, before pouncing towards Kevin.

Kevin dodged his assault, leaping around and once more stalking around the ring, Fargo hurriedly lining himself up with Kevin and following his lead.

"You remember zhees?" Fargo asked, splaying the fingers of one hand, his claws extending.

"Of course," Kevin replied. "How fitting that one of "The Anarchists" should fight with his fingernails…"

Fargo's face darkened and he charged at Kevin. Kevin leaned back as Fargo swiped his hand around, confident that he would escape harm; but the sudden, sickening sound of metal tearing filled his ears, and Kevin was suddenly thrust towards the ropes. Grabbing at the top rope, Kevin hurriedly steadied himself, looking back at Fargo, who was standing in the centre of the ring, his hand held out in front of himself, his claws as sharp and ridiculously long as they had been moments ago. Lowering his eyes a little, Kevin saw dark blue curls and chips at Fargo's feet, hurriedly slapping a hand to his chest as he realised what had just occurred.

Looking down, Kevin saw four gouges in his armour over the left side of his chest. The scours were deep, but not quite deep enough to have reached his skin – though it was a little too close for comfort in Kevin's mind. He had not really paid attention to Fargo's technique during his time at the DMP, and he certainly did not remember Fargo's claws being quite so powerful as to be able to cut through the metal of his armour.

"Zhat's a nasty cut you 'ave, Keveen," Fargo purred, pointing a claw at the gash in Kevin's side. "Maybe I should even eet out for you."

Kevin grabbed the top rope and leapt up into the air as Fargo lunged at him, the force of his launch sending the top half of Fargo's body through the top and middle ropes. Kevin dropped his legs back down, grabbing them around Fargo's arms and reaching down to grab his arms around Fargo's legs, locking him into the Royal Stretch.

"Alright, Kev!" he heard Mars cheer.

Kevin anticipated an interference from his brother; but surprisingly it never came. Instead he felt Fargo's legs slip a little against his hold and then something suddenly smack him over the face with enough force to make his sight go hazy for a moment, his hands moving to his head on instinct, losing his grip on Fargo. Kevin fell outside the ring and Fargo fell into the ring as their bodies parted. Kevin landed on his hands and knees before dropping himself back to sit on his legs, touching one hand to the grill on his mask over his forehead, gripping the other hand onto his leg to hold himself up as the sickening sensation to blood pumping from a sizeable wound down one side of his face momentarily consumed his senses.

But Kevin only hesitated that way for a moment, the sudden realisation of what he was feeling bringing his senses sharply back to the situation at hand. Looking about him nervously, Kevin saw something that seemed illogical, and yet did offer an explanation for why his face was bleeding. Two large fragments of blue metal lay on the ground around him, surrounded by a series of tiny crumbs of metal. Even as Kevin looked at them, another small chip fell from his face. Lifting his other hand to his face, Kevin felt that a section of his mask was missing, exposing his left eye and cheek, which appeared to have been badly sliced open by a concentrated blow from all four of Fargo's claws pressed together.

"Bastard," Kevin grumbled, rising to his feet and turning to the ring.

Fargo was back on his feet, but he was standing a little off kilter, informing Kevin that his Royal Stretch had at least done his opponent some damage. Kevin reached up a hand towards the ropes, intent on pulling himself back into the ring; but he stopped short as Mars suddenly leapt over the top rope, punching Fargo over one ear, sending him staggering back. Kevin shifted his attention to Edward expectantly, wondering when he would jump in and intervene; but Edward was standing loosely in his corner, watching the action with an air of disinterest.

Kevin walked around to his own corner and climbed back up onto the ring apron as Mars continued to pummel Fargo with punches that were creating a bloody mess of the cat Chojin's face. As Edward continued to watch on in an extremely lax manner, Kevin began to lose his patience. After watching Edward's friends mess up the Muscle League win record, Kevin was not about to stand by and let his brother have an easy ride in a match against the Justice Chojins he had treated with no respect. With that thought, Kevin stepped through the ropes and approached Mars and Fargo.

Mars took a moment to acknowledge Kevin's presence, eventually stopping his attack to turn to Kevin curiously. Kevin glanced purposefully over at Edward, before cocking an eyebrow at Mars, an action he knew would be mostly visible in light of his missing section of mask. Mars smiled and nodded his understanding, turning back to Fargo and gasping as Fargo swung both clawed hands at his face. Mars managed to block one of Fargo's hands, but was too slow to catch the other, which smacked him mercilessly over the face, two chunks of red dropping to the canvas at their feet, followed by a sprinkling of gold dust. Mars grabbed Fargo's head and dropped him to the mat with a DDT before rising to his feet again, touching his fingertips to the scratches on his Mask of Madness, his face twitching as he felt the cracked grooves Fargo had left in his visor. To Kevin's mild amusement, Mars only seemed concerned with the damage to his Mask of Madness, apparently unaffected by the two missing chunks of his head-dress which had liberated a chunk of his hair by the side of his face, or the cuts over his cheek, nose and upper lip, which were bleeding readily.

"Let's do dis," he said darkly, lifting his eyes to Kevin's.

Kevin nodded, and together they turned to Edward. Edward looked back at them with the same air of apathy as before, and so Kevin and Mars began rolling Fargo's limp body over with their feet, sliding and rolling him over to the side of the ring and under the bottom rope. They watched him fall to the ground before approaching the corner Edward stood in, standing directly in front of him.

"What do ya say, Eddie?" Mars asked him. "Which one of us would you like to kick your ass first? We'll be good enough to do it one at a time, cause unlike you, we don't need to cheat to win."

"Scarface…" Edward sighed. "Wasn't it you who always told me that a wrestler should never knowingly turn his back on his opponent?"

"Yeah dat's right, so don't even think about turning away from me now," Mars returned.

"I wasn't talking about me, I was talking about you…"

Mars and Kevin glanced at each other before both looking over their shoulders, their eyes widening at what they saw.

-

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**Next Chapter:** A bloody slugfest ensues as the final showdown continues to its conclusion. The Anarchists are not finished with their trickery as Kevin and Mars are subjected to more mental torture; but once the mind games start, the Muscle League are not the only ones who suffer the consequences. **Chapter 25 – Tweety Pie?!**


	25. Tweety Pie!

**A/N:** What gives? (Not to sound like Mars…) Wasn't this series always about Mars as the protagonist and Kevin as the antagonist? When did it switch over? Seriously, when? Even I don't know!!! (Though I suspect it began when I had too much fun torturing Kevin in chapter 18 of _The Reason_.)

Apologies in advance for the slightly more "mature" nature of this chapter, I'm not well right now, and these things seemed funny and appropriate at the time of writing them. Or at least, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it…

Edward quotes _Power Struggle_ by Sunna again.

**Recap:** Edward lost the plot entirely (like me with this fic, LOL) and Kevin and Mars agreed to put any differences aside until the next Chojin Crown (_not a sequel_). The final fight began but it looked like a two-on-one affair as Edward stayed out of the action.

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* * *

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**Chapter 25 – Tweety Pie?!**

Kiki gasped as Fargo swiped his claws at both Kevin and Mars's backs, his movements almost too quick for the camera filming them. She inwardly cursed the miniscule monitor she had to watch the fight on, squinting to focus on what had just happened. There seemed to have been a flurry of movement and suddenly a lot of blood sprayed across the ring mat, but it was not clear what had just transpired, as Kevin was doubled over, one arm wrapped around his waist, the other hooked over the top rope which he was sagging against, Mars was poised as though ready to pounce, and Fargo was lying at the other side of the ring in a mess of tangled limbs.

"Ooh, that was brutal Doc!" Mac Metaphor's voice announced from the monitor.

"The speed of these athletes here today Mac is something else," Doc replied. "We've got four heavyweights inside the ring, but they can manoeuvre as well as any featherweight. Let's check out the instant replay and slow the action down a little to see exactly just what went down."

Kiki sat forwards silently noticing that, at her side, Sprite had leaned forwards a little too to study the replay. The slowed down video replay showed Fargo's claws slicing through the air, one hand aimed at the wound Kevin had somehow acquired in his side, the other hand aimed at Mars's old scar from his DMP days. Kevin arched his back to avoid the blow, but the tips of Fargo's claws succeeded in tearing shallow gashes along his lower back, dangerously close to reopening his other injury. Mars appeared to be watching Fargo's approach over his shoulder and yet not taking action to evade harm; but as Fargo hand swung towards Mars his coat-tails flicked out behind him and he spun sharply around, slicing Fargo open across his abdomen and sending him flying across the ring.

Kiki sighed quietly in relief that the bloodshed was not from Mars or Kevin, slowly sitting back on the bench, resting her shoulders against the lockers behind her. From the corner of her eye she saw Sprite breathing heavily, and she silently wished that most of his face was not hidden behind bandages and the shade of his cap, because she was certain that he looked worried, and if that were the case, then a swift victory was assured for the Muscle League.

The image on the monitor returned to the live action, showing Mars and Kevin once more kicking Fargo out of the ring. They both turned to face the other side of the ring, ad the camera panned across to show that Edward had finally stepped through the ropes and was standing facing them. He was still eerily confident in the face of his formidable opponents, but as the camera switched to a view of Mars, it showed him grinning darkly and cracking his knuckles before slowly licking at one corner of his mouth to remove a small pool of blood that had gathered from one of the cuts Fargo had given him earlier. Kiki took a deep breath, unable to stop herself from smiling a little; but her expression quickly changed as Sprite shot forwards and pushed the button on the monitor, the image of Mars vanishing with a click.

"Hey!" Kiki protested, turning to him with a frown.

"I can't watch!" Sprite argued back. "I just can't! I know what's going to happen next, and I just can't stand it!"

Sprite stood up, wincing a little as his legs refused to straighten beneath him. Kiki began to feel sorry for him, as he had dragged himself to the arena to guard her and support his boyfriend with the same dogged loyalty she felt towards Mars; but the idea that she was missing seeing Mars avenge her name against the nasty Edward quickly changed her mood. Standing up and squaring her jaw, Kiki reached a finger towards the monitor, intent on switching it back on. However, just before she reached her target, Sprite swiped at her hand, slapping it away.

"Ow!" she squealed, retracting her hand and cradling it by her chest. "You're so mean!"

"Ugh, and you're so inane!" Sprite sneered.

"Whatever!" Kiki sighed. "But this television is going back on!"

Kiki reached for the switch again, and again Sprite slapped her hand away. She yelped out, but this time slapped Sprite's hand back.

"You dirty little vixen!" Sprite hissed, before slapping her hand again.

"Stop it!" Kiki wailed, slapping his hand again.

"You stop it!"

"No you!"

Kiki cried out as she suddenly found herself slapping aimlessly at Sprite's hands as he did exactly the same thing back at her. After several seconds of noisy and mostly ineffective slapping, they both stopped, glaring at each other angrily.

"How did you ever get to be in the DMP anyway?" Kiki asked, eying over Sprite's small, slight frame. "Geez, even I could beat you in a wrestling match! You fight like a girl! A really weak, really pathetic, really little girl!"

"Oh really?" Sprite growled. "Well how about this?"

Sprite grabbed the television with one hand and swung it around, smashing it into the metal lockers with an almighty crash. As he took his hand away, the shattered television fell to the ground revealing a large impact crater on the door of the locker from the force of his blow.

"Oh, well done!" Kiki spat. "Now how are we supposed to watch the match?"

"I don't want to watch the match, don't you get it?" Sprite roared. "God, you're so slow!"

Sprite grabbed an open locker door and slammed it shut forcefully, spinning with the swing of his arm and stumbling towards the ground. On instinct Kiki leapt forwards, grabbing her arms around his waist to stop his fall. He was surprisingly heavy as he slouched over her shoulder, groaning quietly as he gripped at the fabric of her dress and tried to steady himself.

"Hey there," Kiki said gently as he managed to right himself by grabbing an arm around her shoulders and leaning a lot of weight onto her. "You should be taking it easy right now, you've been in two big fights recently, you're not fit for this sort of behaviour."

"You're a…" Sprite began, grabbing a hand at his forehead. "A little… A really… I'd like to sit down now."

Kiki nodded, guiding Sprite back to the bench and sitting back down, lowering him at her side. Ducking her head, Kiki saw that his eyes were closed, and she took the opportunity to push the brim of his cap up and back a little, casting some light onto his features. He looked worse than Mars had after suffering the Muscle Millennium in his fight against Kid Muscle, and yet still he was trying to pretend that nothing was wrong for Edward's sake. Kiki sighed softly, touching a hand to his cheek and resting her forehead against his. She closed her eyes and hugged Sprite a little tighter, causing him to make some small noises of disgust; but he did curl his arm a littler further around her shoulders and hold onto her, albeit in a one-armed embrace.

"It'll be okay," Kiki whispered. "Edward loves you, I really believe that. If I have confidence in Edward, you should do too. I'm sure we'll both get what we want after today."

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* * *

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Kevin and Mars both stopped, facing Edward. He looked as detached from the fight as ever. The roof of the Kyushu Oil Dome had been opened for the event, and the once clear sky overhead was starting to cloud over a little, a cold wind befitting of the season whistling around the ring, teasing the strands of shocking ginger hair around Edward's neck as he stared blankly back at his opponents. Mars began to laugh sinisterly, cracking his knuckles.

"Something funny, scarface?" Edward asked him, tilting his head a little.

"Yeah," Mars replied confidently. "You just run outta bodies to hide behind, Eddie. You got nowhere to hide, and no more tricks to save your ass. It's endgame."

"Actually, there is just one more thing I would like to share with you before I defeat you," Edward said calmly. "And it's right up there."

Mars's grin vanished and both he and Kevin eyed Edward curiously as he pointed at something seemingly behind and above them. Neither particularly wished to turn their backs on him and both were confident that Fargo was no immediate threat and could not be poised to attack their backs again; but the sound of a familiar voice made them look back over their shoulders to confirm what they had heard.

"I have confidence in Edward, you should do too. I'm sure we'll both get what we want after today."

Kevin's jaw dropped in awed silence as the gigantic screen behind them showed Kiki hugging one of Edward's team-mates, their heads leaned against each other and their eyes closed.

"What?" Mars muttered.

Kevin turned to Mars, who looked surprisingly unaffected by what he saw. Turning back to the screen, Kevin saw Kiki snuggle closer to their enemy, both of them apparently oblivious to the camera filming them inside what appeared to be a locker room in the stadium. Behind them a locker door had a massive dent in it, and another was completely warped, the barely identifiable remains of a poster emblazoned with the words "Kevin Mask – The Reason" hanging from it.

"Da fuck is goin' on back dere?" Mars yelled.

Kevin turned to him again, finally seeing the type of reaction he had expected from Mars seeing his girlfriend cuddling up to another man and – apparently – declaring her allegiance to The Anarchists.

"Dis just ain't funny no more," Mars growled, reaching a hand up to his head.

Kevin watched as Mars lowered his golden visor over his eyes, his headdress turning yellow and spiking around his shoulders. Mars turned to Edward, the dangerous glint in his eye not going unnoticed by Kevin. Kevin looked up at the screen again, but the image of Kiki and Sprite had been replaced by a shot of Edward inside the ring, and it looked as though he was, for the first time that day, showing some emotion. Turning to his brother, Kevin was surprised to find Edward staring at the screen with wide eyes, his arms dangling loosely at his sides.

"You dirty little rat Eddie, I'ma break you into so many pieces, nobody'll ever be able to put ya back together again!" Mars roared, clenching his fists at his sides. "You just played your last stupid game kid, dis ain't da playground no more; dis is war!"

Mars charged at Edward, but Kevin found himself rooted to the spot, suddenly unable to do anything but watch as Mars aimed a clothesline at Edward that looked set to send him right out of the ring. Edward ducked to avoid the blow, but Mars – his senses heightened by his Mask of Madness – quickly brought a knee up, driving it into Edward's gut. He then grabbed an arm around the back of Edward's neck and grabbed a handful of Edward's T-shirt with his other hand, hoisting him up into the air and falling backwards, slamming Edward hard to the mat in a vicious vertical suplex. Edward's entire body literally bounced on impact, and Mars was on his feet in an instant. Edward tried to sit up, but Mars swung a kick at his head, sending him back to the mat.

Edward began to crawl on his belly towards the ropes, bringing a maniacal grin to Mars's face, his coat-tails sharpening to points at his back. He waited until Edward had pulled himself to his feet before leaping into the air and spinning around, slicing at Edward with his Swallow Tail attack. One blade ripped open Edward's T-shirt and tore a gash across his back, the other – much to Kevin's dismay – sliced into the back of Edward's mask, creating a small fissure. The chunk of black metal fell to the canvas along with a lock of Edward's hair, and Edward finally flung himself through the ropes, literally falling out of the ring to the floor below.

"Get back in here, I ain't even started wid you yet!" Mars yelled, stomping over to the ropes.

Mars grabbed the ropes and leaned over to look for Edward, his face met by a foot, the kick sending him staggering back from the ropes. A second later Fargo leapt into the ring, aiming a drop-kick at Mars's chest. Mars blocked the move with his arms, but still staggered a little from the blow. As the two then began circling around each other, Kevin backed out of the ring, deciding to let them fight alone.

"So, ya didn't get enough da first time, huh?" Mars sneered. "I dunno if you're real brave or real stupid comin' back in here to fight me."

"Ze laws of nature prefer my chances of defeating you," Fargo replied. "I am ze cat, and you are ze bird."

"I'ma bird o' prey, and I've eaten a lotta pussy in my time," Mars said, flicking out his tongue at Fargo.

"You look more like a canary vith your seely little yellow hat," Fargo said, remaining unfazed by Mars's words.

"A canary?" Mars growled in a low voice.

"Like Tweety Pie."

"Tweety Pie?!"

"And I am like Sylvester."

"Den I guess you're goin' down."

Mars and Fargo leapt at each other, both grabbing the other and attempting a throw. Both wrestlers dug their heels into the mat to hold themselves down, and the two remained locked together. Fargo smirked confidently, and Mars took too long to figure out why. Fargo's claws extended suddenly, piercing into Mars's sides, one claw boring into the old scar on his back. Mars let out an involuntary cry of pain before releasing Fargo and thrusting the heel of one hand up, smacking it into Fargo's nose, which exploded into a fountain of blood on the impact. When Fargo did not remove his claws, Mars repeated his blow twice more, his hand slipping a little on the third blow against the blood he had drawn.

Fargo held on tenaciously, his claws still embedded deep into Mars's flesh. Mars made to grab his wrists, intent on breaking Fargo's hands from his body if it was the only way to break his hold; but suddenly something caught around his neck and he fell to the mat under a sudden weight, Fargo's claws tearing through him as he was ripped away from them forcefully. Turning his head, Mars saw Edward behind him. He turned back to Fargo, relieved to see that Kevin had already leapt in to tackle the cat Chojin himself, freeing Mars to fight Edward alone.

Fargo charged at Kevin, who prepared himself for a tackle, completely taken off-guard when his opponent instead sunk his fangs into his side. Kevin winced as Fargo bit mercilessly into his wound, once more reopening it; but the pain of the wound merely drove Kevin over the edge, a distinct yellow glow gathering around him that went undetected by Fargo, who was too busy biting into Kevin's side to notice. Kevin raised his elbow, smashing it into the side of Fargo's head with crunch. He felt Fargo's hold weaken and he repeated his move, shattering two of Fargo's teeth with his second blow. Fargo dropped to his knees, and looking down, Kevin saw half a fang and the point of another tooth still embedded in his skin. Ignoring it as a minor detail, Kevin reached down and grabbed Fargo up, tossing him into the air and leaping up after him.

As Kevin finished Fargo off with his trademark Big Ben Edge, Mars was struggling with Edward, who had attached himself to Mars's back and was attempting to pull Mars's headdress from him. Mars backed up into a corner, slamming Edward's back into the turnbuckles repeatedly, but still Edward hung on. Looking across the ring, Mars saw the IWF officials assessing Fargo's condition; apparently Kevin had flung him from the ring after demolishing him with the Big Ben Edge. Even from where he stood, Mars heard the officials concur that Fargo could not continue the fight, and that the match was over.

"It's not over until we finish them both," Kevin snapped at them.

Mars hesitated, narrowing his eyes sceptically at Kevin, who was still radiating the golden energy of his Maelstrom Power as he crossed the ring towards him.

"And this little pest is still able to fight!" Kevin added, grabbing Edward's shirt and the waistband of his jeans and yanking him from Mars's back, throwing him across the ring.

"Thanks Kev, I got it now," Mars said to him, before starting towards Edward.

"No," Kevin said firmly, slapping a hand against Mars's chest to halt his progress.

Mars turned to Kevin warily silently hoping that he was not about to witness Kevin step in to defend his twisted little brother yet again.

"This is my fight," Kevin told him. "This whole mess began because Edward has a grudge against me. I have to end this, or it won't ever end."

Mars quietly nodded his head and backed off, exiting the ring and allowing Kevin to fight his brother alone. Edward began to laugh bitterly as he got to his feet, beginning a speech about how Kevin was powerless to fight him; but Kevin quickly silenced him with a kick to the gut followed almost immediately by a kick to the head as Edward doubled over. As Edward stagger from the combination attack, Kevin wasted no time in locking him into the OLAP, using all his strength to maximise the effectiveness of the move, silently glad that he did not have to look at Edward as he held him in place, making it easier for him to block out the cracking sounds and whimpers of pain his move evoked.

"Kevin!"

Kevin's eyebrows flicked into a frown at the sound of a frantic, hysterical, effeminate voice screaming his name clearly over the cries of the fans in attendance, but otherwise did not respond.

"Kevin!"

Kevin's frown deepened as he heard two hysterical effeminate voices frantically screaming his name in unison.

"Kevin, don't kill him!"

Kevin's frown shifted into an expression of curious amusement as he suddenly recognised the voice that had just made the plea as belonging to his best friend's girlfriend.

"Don't kill him Kevin, please!"

Kevin glanced at Mars to gauge his reaction to what appeared to be happening, finding his tag team partner glaring furiously down at a specific section of the audience to Kevin's right side. Following Mars's line of sight, Kevin spotted Kiki clutching the metal railings in one hand, the other clenched into a fist at her chest.

"Kevin don't overdo it!" she yelled.

"Kevin!" Edward's melodramatic blonde elf-like friend wailed, appearing at Kiki's side.

"Bollocks," Kevin grumbled, pushing a little harder on Edward, the distinct change in tone of the cracks he heard telling him he had just dislocated his brother's shoulders, and any more pressure or shift backwards would commence the process of removing Edward's arms from his body.

"Just submit Edward, it's not worth dying for this!" Sprite yelled.

"Kevin don't kill him, it's not worth it!" Kiki added. "I'm free now, let's just end this mess and all go home!"

"Hey, shut-up!" Mars yelled at her.

Kiki gasped, turning to Mars in horror.

"Whose side are you on here?" he snarled. "Ya look like shit, I bet you ain't eaten a hot meal in weeks, stop feelin' sorry for da bastards who did dat to you! You're too God-damned nice, dis is just another dumb games for dese assholes!"

Kiki tilted her head to one side, studying Mars curiously for a moment.

"Honey, deactivate the mask," she said gently.

"What?" Mars snapped.

"The mask," she said, pointing at her eyes.

Mars scowled at her, but did as she asked, his headdress fading back to a dull red and settling around his shoulders once more. His expression softened then and Kiki smiled at him.

"Do you surrender?" an IWF official asked Edward.

Edward answered with a disjointed groan that sounded a little too non-committal for Kevin's liking, and so he put a little more pressure on one arm, the sound of tearing flesh reaching his ears to confirm that he had succeeded in bursting the skin of his brother's shoulder, taking him one step closer to removing the arm entirely.

"Give up Edward, please!" Sprite begged. "It's just not worth it!"

Kevin repeated his action with his other hand, ripping at his brother's other arm, a little surprised by what he heard next.

"I give," Edward said weakly.

A second later the bell rang and Kevin gladly released his brother, turning to watch him crumple to the mat. Kevin started to approach his brother's fallen form, but before he reached him, Edward's fey friend threw himself over Edward, glaring up at Kevin with wide eyes. Kevin sighed, stepping back.

"I just wanted to tell him that this is what the Muscle League is really all about, and he was a fool to underestimate us the way that he did," Kevin growled at Sprite. "And that I hope he has learned a lesson from all of this and that the next time he fights, he does so with some dignity and in the pursuit of honour. No more dirty tricks or silly games. Wrestling is a man's business, not a child's game to be entered into lightly."

Sprite nodded his head hurriedly.

"Thank you Kevin, I knew you were a good man," he said quietly.

Kevin took a breath to answer him but decided against it, silently telling himself that he ought to just be thankful that the ridiculous tournament was finally over. Kevin turned around, finding a bloody Mars standing behind him, eying the two Anarchists with an air of contempt.

"It's over," Kevin assured him.

"Yeah, you did good Kev," Mars replied, slapping Kevin on the shoulder far too roughly.

Kevin shook his head as he sighted a bedraggled and exhausted looking Kiki stepping through the bottom and middle ropes, her appearance about as filthy and ragged as Mars's. Mars turned to see what Kevin was looking at, sighting Kiki for himself and starting a little. Kevin half expected his friend to continue demanding answers from his girlfriend about what she had been doing and saying backstage cuddled up to one of their enemies; but instead he merely smiled warmly at her, his expression softening in a positively sickening way. She sighed, pointing at Edward and Sprite, and he nodded his head at them. Kiki shook her head and Mars shrugged, and apparently their disjointed and wordless conversation had meant something far deeper than it had appeared to in Kevin's eyes, because they then grabbed each other into a hug.

Kevin felt his face twist as Mars lifted Kiki off her feet, nuzzling into her neck as she giggled and grabbed at his shoulders, both apparently oblivious to the hideous state of the other. Kevin slowly shook his head, turning back to see that Edward had been removed from the ring and loaded onto a stretcher. Kevin stepped through the ropes and leapt to the ground, approaching his brother.

"You fucking idiot," Edward cursed at him as he joined the paramedics surrounding the fallen. "You're just as bad as our father, with you're pathetic concept of honour! You should have killed me when you had the chance to, because I would have killed you if it came down to it!"

"I'm glad that you didn't kill him Kevin," Sprite whispered, touching a hand to Kevin's arm.

Kevin flipped his arm up, slapping back Sprite's hand.

"You'll regret this Kevin," Edward spat. "You'll regret being one of the pathetic good guys and sparing me. You made a mockery of me back there you should have killed me if you had to defeat me! You haven't seen the last of me, big brother! I'll be back to seek my vengeance. I will survive because I want more and I will create a bigger war. I will rule over and give you hell and then you will do as I command because I will be here when you are gone, because I… I… I was… I was… Was made… To fly…"

Edward's eyes closed and his head slouched to one side. Shifting his eyes a little, Kevin saw Sprite retract his hands from the tap on the morphine drip Edward was attached to, grinning nervously.

"Okay…" Kevin muttered, turning back to the ring.

The entire Muscle League, both the new generation and the Legends had flooded the ring and all were congratulating Mars on his victory, even though Mars was still too preoccupied with making up for lost time with Kiki to care. Kevin then became aware of someone approaching him, and turning his head, he was a little surprised at what he saw.

"He's out cold," Kevin offered, as Robin Mask slowed to a halt at Kevin's side, craning his neck to peer at Edward.

Robin nodded silently.

"You did the right thing," he said.

"I don't need you to tell me that," Kevin said stubbornly.

"I have shomething for you."

Kevin narrowed his eyes, not particularly wishing to accept anything from his father, his defensiveness spiking to an all-time high as Robin held out what appeared to be a cheque towards him. Kevin folded his arms over his chest to indicate that he had no intention of accepting the apparent gift, but Robin merely moved his hand closer to Kevin.

"Take it," he insisted. "It ishn't from me, it wash payment from Jive Recordsh."

Kevin slowly unfolded his arms, reaching a hand out towards the cheque. The moment he closed his fingers on it Robin released it into his custody, and turning it around, Kevin saw that it was indeed a cheque for £3000 from Jive Records as his father had alluded.

"Why?" Kevin asked, lifting his eyes to his father.

"Well I hope you don't mind, but they contacted me and ashked me if they could film footage of the Mashk Eshtate."

Kevin's face dropped and he suddenly began to feel sick again.

"You let a record company film my house?" he asked darkly. "Oh God, you didn't sign me up for one of those awful reality television shows did you? "Primp my Crib" or whatever they call it?"

"You're thinking of "Pimp my Ride" or "MTV Cribsh"."

Kevin sweat-dropped, a small part of him warning him that his father had just sounded more in touch with society than he was, and that definitely was massively wrong.

"No, they jusht wanted external shots of the eshtate for a mushic video," Robin continued. "They filmed it in one day and gave me that, I had them make it out to you."

Kevin nodded his understanding.

"I suppose I can live with that," he agreed. "After all, it's a just a music video, right? How much trouble could it possibly cause me?"

-

* * *

-

As Kevin made his way through Heathrow airport, trying to block out Mars and Kiki's inane babble behind him, something caught his eye in the window of WH Smith. Walking over with a small frown, Kevin saw a picture of the Mask Estate taken from the rear garden on the cover of a magazine. The magazine was apparently aimed at young women, it had a silly title written in pink bubble writing, and, to Kevin's absolute disgust, a cover shot of a particularly chirpy pop star he truly despised standing in the middle of his garden amidst a large patch of freshly planted red roses, along with the caption "Exclusive: Shots of Nick Hasler's New Music Video Filmed in and Around Richmond Park, London".

"Roses in November in England," Kevin grumbled. "Fools…"

Kevin turned to walk on but suddenly found himself engulfed by a small gathering of eager teenage girls, all grinning at him.

"Nick?" one of them whispered.

Kevin curled his lip in disgust, silently cursing Fargo for shattering his mask. After his mask had been broken, it had become too sharp and dangerous to wear, and so he had removed it for the flight home, intent on commissioning a replacement as soon as he returned to London.

"Nah, that ain't Nick 'Asler!" one of the girls said. "Look at the size of 'is arse!"

Kevin stiffened, feeling for first time in his life self-conscious about his body as a few of the girls leaned around to inspect his rear-end.

"You're right, Nick's got the tightest little arse eva!" another girl agreed. "This one's far too big!"

Kevin watched in silent horror as the girls trudged off, grumbling in disappointment as they went. After they had dispersed, Kevin found himself facing Mars and Kiki, both of who were doubled over, giggling into their hands.

"It's not funny you bitches," Kevin growled at them before marching on without them.

As Kevin finally exited the airport, it was raining, bitterly cold and nightfall was descending already outside. In front of him two groups of people were fighting over a taxi and behind him Mars and Kiki were talking nonsense to each other; the Bad Blood Tournament was finally over, and normality had just been restored.

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** But what is normality at the Mask Estate for Kevin Mask with Mars and Kiki living with him? What is life without his mask like? What really are the best ways to annoy Kevin Mask? What was that Nick Hasler music video all about? Why does Kevin keep acquiring unwanted and uninvited houseguests? And just what is going on at the bottom of the back garden of the Mask Estate? It's time for Kevin torture galore: an awkward first date, a run-in with the law, Cockney accents abound and breaking of the fourth wall: **Chapter 26 – Some Kind of Bliss**.


	26. Some Kind of Bliss

**A/N:** I do actually love Kevin, but this was just too much to resist. References listed and explained at the end of the chapter to save confusion. Take a deep breath, this is the longest chapter for this fic so far…

**Recap:** The Bad Blood Tournament ended with a victory for Kevin Mask and Mars, but Edward was not content and vowed that he would wreak revenge on big brother Kevin. Kevin, Mars and Kiki returned to London to resume their "normal" lives.

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 26 – Some Kind of Bliss**

"Kevvy!"

Kevin bristled, stamping his feet against the mat. He had been about to set out for a ride on his motorbike, but apparently the weather had decided to match the date, and the first day of December had brought a light flurry of snowfall that had made the roads unpleasantly slippery and reduced visibility to impractical levels.

"Kevvy!"

Kevin growled, stomping down the hall.

"Kevvy, Kevvy, Kevvy!"

Kevin stopped abruptly, turning his head to see Kiki leaning over the banister at the top of the winding staircase, dressed in an outfit befitting a stripper posing as Santa Claus.

"Kevvy, come here!" she called to him.

"You come down here!" he yelled back at her.

"No Kevvy, come up here!" she moaned.

"My name is Kevin, and if you want to tell me something, get down here or else shut-up about it!"

"But Kevvy it's really important!"

"It can't be that bloody important or else you would come down here!"

"Kevvy!"

"Or for the love of…"

Kevin growled out a sigh of defeat, thumping his way up the stairs, climbing two steps with every footfall.

"What?" he asked as he reached the top floor.

"Hm?" Kiki echoed, tilting her head to one side.

"What was so important that you had to drag me all the way up here?" he asked her patiently.

"Oh right!" she said, nodding her head.

Kiki began to chew on her lip, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, a pensive look creasing her features. Kevin sighed, slouching his shoulders.

"You can't remember, can you?" he asked.

"It's the darnedest thing!" Kiki replied, meeting his eyes. "Every time I call you up, I always forget by the time you get up here!"

"Well I'm going back downstairs now–"

"You're so slow about it, if you were quicker and came the first time I called you, I wouldn't forget."

"Irksome little minx."

Kevin thumped his way back down the stairs and continued down the hallway to a room at the back of the estate that he used as a gym. On entering the room Kevin literally jumped on the spot, his head snapping around at the sound of the treadmill in operation.

"Jaeger?" he yelped.

"Hi Kevin!" Jaeger called to him from his position jogging on the treadmill.

"What the devil are you doing here?" Kevin demanded.

"Mars invited me!" Jaeger called back.

"Bloody…" Kevin grumbled.

Kevin took a deep breath and turned from the room. He had hoped to train in peace and he knew that Jaeger would never leave him alone. As he walked back down the hall, Kevin caught glimpses of the whirling snowfall outside, and began to wonder how Jaeger had managed to get a flight into London, when most flights were cancelled in such weather. Deciding to check that fact out, Kevin headed towards what had once been a formal sitting room for entertaining guests; within a week of moving in after the Chojin Crown, Mars had emptied the room and refilled it with a television big enough to almost fill one wall, a couple of video game consoles, a pool table, a fridge filled with beer and snack foods and a tastelessly huge and bright red leather sofa. Kevin hated to be in the room after Mars had bastardised it, but it was the quickest way to reach a television from where he was, and he wanted to check the news.

As he neared his destination, Kevin began to hear voices and the theme music of a video game, leaving him feeling a little sick with apprehension. Stepping into the room, Kevin found Wally Tusket, Terry Kenyon, Kid Muscle and Trixie all stood in front of the television shaking remotes at the screen, where some brightly coloured characters were jumping around.

"No fair, Wally keeps stepping on my toe, it's putting me off!" Kid wailed.

"Suck it up, you're just a sore loser!" Trixie snapped back at him.

"Dang Trixie, you really are good at this game!" Terry said in disbelief.

"Yeah Trixie, you don't need to take it so seriously though," Wally said. "It is just a game."

"Hello?" Kevin said loudly, walking further into the room.

"Kevin, dude!" Kid greeted him without turning from the screen. "Your timing rocks! Throw us other a couple of beers, would ya?"

Kevin glowered at Kid, who had literally just appeared in his house and was now giving him orders.

"How the hell did you lot get in here?" Kevin demanded.

"Mars invited us," Trixie answered him.

"Kevin, we've been here since Wednesday," Wally told him.

"Wednesday?" Kevin yelped. "But today is Saturday!"

All four paused their actions, turning to look blankly at Kevin.

"I don't remember inviting any of you, I don't remember any of you letting me know that you were here, and what gives you the right to turn up at my house today and start touching my belongings?" Kevin roared.

"Mars invited us," Trixie repeated.

"He told us we should let you be because you like to be alone," Wally added.

"And this stuff all belong to Mars anyway," Kid added.

"And we didn't just "turn up at your house today"," Terry added. "We've been stayin' here since Wednesday night."

"You've been what?" Kevin yelled.

"Mars said it was cool," Kid replied, picking at his nose.

"Don't you dare wipe that on my furniture!" Kevin warned him.

Kid slowly closed his fist over, glancing about himself nervously.

"Never mind, at least now I know how Jaeger got here if you all arrived on Wednesday, before the snow started," Kevin said with a sigh.

"Dude, Jaeger's been here for like two weeks," Kid pointed out.

Kevin's head snapped up, his eyes locking onto Kid, who grinned nervously and crossed his legs.

"If you piss yourself in my house on any of my furniture or on any of my carpets, I will make it so that you can never piss again!" Kevin warned him.

Kid stiffened, the faint sound of a fart emanating from him. Kevin made a sound of disgust and left the room, deciding that he was better off taking his chances with the snow than staying at home if his house was to be filled with morons. Marching back down the hall he grabbed his coat and left the mansion, skidding to a halt on the porch as he found yet more people loitering there.

"Hey Kevin, ya still waitin' to get yourself a new mask?"

Kevin glared at the two individuals sat on the wooden bench under the shade of the veranda, sipping cocoa from a pair of his most treasured Denby mugs.

"Why are you two here as well?" Kevin asked them.

"Mars invited us," Marie answered him. "And it seemed like such a nice idea to get a break from work and come to England. It's such a lovely home you have."

"Yeah Kevin, I had no idea Robin Mask had done so well for himself!" Meat added.

Kevin sighed, shaking his head. He hurriedly descended the steps to the forecourt below, turning sharply left and squinting against the snowflakes that stung his eyes and clung to his hair, silently hoping that if he went to the iron-monger his new mask might be ready to collect. Kevin flipped a switch to open the automatic door to one of the garages, ducking under it when it opened too slowly for his liking, shaking himself free of snow before stepping onto his motorbike and starting the engine. As soon as the door had opened sufficiently for him to do so, Kevin raced out of it, not caring to close the door behind him, simply wishing to escape to solitude as soon as possible.

Travelling particularly fast against the snow made Kevin's visibility even worse than usual, and so, as the signposts for the motorway came into his sights, he heard more than saw the police car pursuing him. Kevin squinted in his rear-view mirrors a few times, quietly cursing as he saw that the police car was definitely following him with its sirens blaring. With a small sigh he slowed and turned into a nearby lay-by, swerving around the dirty old burger van that was permanently parked there and stopping to await the police.

"I know, I know," he muttered to himself as the car parked in front of him. "I shouldn't be riding on these roads in this weather on a bike unless it's an emergency. But it is an emergency, my sanity is at stake…"

"Good afternoon," one of the police officers greeted him. "Could you step away from the vehicle please, Sir?"

Kevin reluctantly dismounted his bike, quirking an eyebrow as he saw the two police officers flinch a little upon seeing him stood at his full height.

"Can you tell me what you did wrong back there?" the policeman recovered.

Kevin glanced back and forth between the man holding a pad of paper in front of him and the short but aggressive-looking woman at his side, her hands on her hips.

"I shouldn't be out in this weather?" Kevin tried.

"Well no, you shouldn't really, but I'm more worried about the laws you've been violatin'," the policeman replied, lifting his eyes to give Kevin a stern glare.

"Laws?" Kevin echoed.

"Where would you like me to begin?" the policewoman asked him.

Kevin suddenly began to worry; he had never been stopped by the police before when out on his motorbike, and the sudden idea that he was in a bad situation began to dawn on him.

"You went frough a suburban area clearly signposted wiv a 30 miles per hour speed limit at 80 miles per hour," the policewoman said bluntly. "You maintained that speed along this road 'ere, where the limit is 60 miles per hour."

"You ran a red light at a pedestrian crossin' at the same speed, ignorin' the woman and children about to cross the road," the policeman added.

"And you ain't superman mate, you can't ride a motorcycle on a public road wivout an 'elmet," the policewoman finished.

"Bugger," Kevin cursed, slapping a gloved hand against his forehead as he found yet another reason to miss his mask.

He did not even own a motorbike helmet for the simple reason that he had never needed one with his mask on all the time.

"I'm writin' you a ticket for speedin', one of passin' a red light and one for not wearin' an 'elmet," the policeman explained. "Just because you're a celebrity, don't mean you're above the law, mate."

Kevin baulked at first, images of his face on the cover of every tabloid in Britain with the headline "Kevin Mask is a Selfish Twat" floating through his mind. But upon catching the policewoman stealing a quick glance over his body, an idea worthy of Mars occurred to him.

"I'm really sorry about all of this," he began, turning to the policewoman, hoping to appeal to her as a potential fan. "I've just been so worn out by work lately, my bike is my own release sometimes, you know?"

"M-hm," she said, nodding her head. "You know, you've put on a lotta weight lately. I seen you on MTV last night, you was lookin' good, but you've really piled it on since then, 'aven't ya?"

"What?" Kevin echoed, pressing a hand to his stomach self-consciously.

"'E's a lot taller'n I thought 'e'd be too," the policeman added, talking to his colleague.

"I know!" she agreed. "I fought 'e was just about my size, those pop stars ain't usually tall, are they?"

Kevin's face dropped along with his mood.

"Anyway, I fought you was on tour in Spain?" the policewoman asked him. "Wasn't you meant to be performin' in Madrid last night? You must really like it 'ere that you're back already. I fought it looked like you was enjoyin' yourself in that video ya made in Richmond Park."

"I'm gonna need to see your license," the policeman said.

"I don't carry it with me," Kevin replied.

"I need to see some kind of identification at least," the policeman replied. "Conviction is a bit more complicated for an American like yourself."

Kevin sighed, rubbing a hand at forehead.

"I'm not American, I'm not Nick Hasler, my name is Kevin Mask, I'm English, I live around here," he confessed.

"Oh well than that makes this a lot easier!" the policeman brightened.

"I didn't fink you was Nick 'Asler," the policewoman added. "You're far too big."

"Just give me the ticket and let me go," Kevin growled.

"No can do mate," the policeman replied. "For all that you've just done, I'm enforcin' a six month ban on ya, six points on your license and three fines totalling £350, to be paid before Christmas. If you ain't got any identification, we're gonna have to take ya down to the station."

"What?" Kevin echoed.

-

* * *

-

"Hey, jail-bird!"

Mars laughed shamelessly, slapping Kevin on the back three times.

"Aw Kev, what was ya thinkin'?" he asked.

"I wanted some peace," Kevin grumbled angrily.

"So did we!" Kiki grumbled. "You just completely ruined our day dragging us out here just because you think that you're above the law…"

"Did you bring my license and the money?" Kevin asked Mars, ignoring Kiki.

"Yeah sure, I got it all sorted out," Mars replied. "But ya owe me dat £350, yeah?"

"How?" Kevin asked. "I told you to take it from the money I had in my safe, the money from that record company. I haven't spent any of it, there should be £3000 in there."

"Aw c'mon Kev, you put dat money in dere over two weeks ago!"

"Yes?"

"I spent it already!"

"What? But that was my money!"

"Ah-ah, it was our money."

"How the hell was it "our" money?"

"Because it was payment for use of our house."

"It's my house, it's my money, and even if I was sharing it with you, where's my half?"

"Your third ya mean, Kiki gets her cut too, remember?"

"That's still £1000 unaccounted for!"

"Yeah, well, da sofa in da games room cost us over £1200, so you was owe me anyway…"

"You spent £1200 of my money of that hideous thing?"

"Yeah, and now I just wasted £350 more of my money on your sorry ass!"

Kevin sighed, actually feeling relieved when he was handed some papers to sign that would allow him to escape the police station.

"I was on my way to collect my mask and my armour," he grumbled.

"Dey ain't ready yet," Mars told him.

"How do you know that?" Kevin asked.

"Da guy called for you two days ago, he said he ain't finished wid da mask yet, and he ain't even started on your armour. Guess I just forgot to tell ya."

Kevin sighed again.

"A bit like how you forgot to tell me that Jaeger, Kid Muscle, Wally Tusket, Meat, that kindergarten woman, Terry Kenyon and his girlfriend are all staying at my house?"

"Yeah, I invited some people over, you don't mind, right?"

"I've got no choice in the matter, have I? I can't very well send them home in this weather!"

"It's okay, I invited 'em here for you anyways."

"For me? I hate people and I like to be alone, so how exactly was inviting a gang of idiots to stay in my home a gift to me?"

"Well, ya know, everybody came."

"What do you mean "everybody"?"

"Well we got all da boys: Jaeger, Kid, Terry, Wally, Dik Dik and Checkers. And we got some of da olds: Meat, Marie, your dad and Warsman. And da girls are all here: we got Roxanne, Trixie, Jacqueline, Sally and…"

Kevin let out an "oof" as Mars elbowed him in his still sore side.

"I even invited a lady I know you're gonna like havin' here."

Kevin slowly turned to Mars, trying to overlook the fact that he was, once more, inexplicably dressed in his "Professor Hawkeye" disguise, with Kiki dressed in a roll-neck black woollen dress and fake glasses at his side, apparently in her "Doctor Hawkeye" disguise. Mars was grinning at Kevin and nodding his head as though what he was implying should be obvious.

"I have never met a woman whose company I enjoy," Kevin said stiffly, sliding the papers back across the desk to the police officer awaiting them. "And when the hell did all those people arrive at my house, and where the hell are they all staying?"

"Kev, da place is huge!" Mars said with a shrug. "And everybody wanted to see London at Christmas time."

"They're staying the entire month?" Kevin yelled.

Mars glanced nervously around himself and Kevin suddenly remembered where they were, cringing as he found the eyes of every police officer on him.

"Never mind," Kevin resigned. "I've avoided them all thus far, I'm sure I can avoid them until the festive season is over."

"Hey, I tell ya what, I'll book you a table at a nice restaurant tonight and you can go out wid your girl and have some fun. I'm payin', what do ya say?"

"You're paying for me to eat? I'd say I just woke up in some parallel universe where everything has been reversed! In fact, I probably have done just that, since here I am acting like the common criminal, a role you usually fulfil! And you're the one bailing me out for once!"

"I'll get your old man to drive ya, he's still got a car back home," Mars said, ignoring Kevin's comments. "Just, ya know, wear somethin' normal and do somethin' wid you hair, ya look a bit wild, and girls like it when ya make an effort, ya know?"

Kevin suddenly found himself picturing his father driving his old Bentley along the motorway, with Kevin sat in the back dressed in a stuffy tuxedo, his hair tied back, and Amy sat next to him dressed in the outfit she had been wearing at Disneyland the day Kevin and Mars had been scheduled to fight Edward and Fargo before Edward stopped and restarted the tournament.

"My girl?" he said, turning to Mars.

Mars grinned, nodding his head.

"I knew you'd like dat," he said.

"When did she get here?" Kevin asked.

"She was travellin' wid Trixie and da others, but she got held up at customs," Mars replied, frowning a little. "She's got a bit of a record, dey didn't wanna let her into da country."

Kevin's face dropped. He had never pictured Amy as being a criminal of any kind, but she had proved that she could be sneaky, and maybe her spying ways had gotten her into trouble somehow.

"That sounds very pleasant, thank you Mars," Kevin said, allowing himself to smile a little.

"Yeah!" Mars said, slapping him hard enough on the shoulder to make him stumble into the desk in front of him.

-

* * *

-

"This wasn't what I had in mind," Kevin said aloud, not particularly caring how his words were interpreted by those around him.

"Warshman and I often went for a drive in thish car," Robin called over his shoulder to Kevin from the driver's seat.

"On a Sunday afternoon," Warsman added from his position next to Robin in the front passenger seat.

"I thought you were taking the Bentley," Kevin said darkly. "I wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in the Bentley."

"You don't like thish car?" Robin asked.

"This isn't a car, it's a rigid, uncomfortable and filthy truck," Kevin grumbled.

"It's excellent for off-road driving," Warsman offered.

"This is London, there is no "off-road driving" to be had!" Kevin argued.

"I'm glad you're getting out," Robin said, changing the subject.

"Hm…" Kevin mumbled, shifting his eyes to the girl sat next to him in the back of his father's rickety old four-by-four.

She smiled coyly at Kevin as she caught his eye, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"You totally kicked ass in the Chojin Crown," she said.

"Thank you?" Kevin replied, unsure if he was actually grateful for her implied compliment or not.

"Me and my sisters have like always thought you were hot," she added. "Like, before I even saw your face, I totally knew that you looked like Nick Hasler, because this one time there was this story about it in a magazine."

Kevin nodded, smiling tightly.

"And like I totally love how you always talk with that funny accent," she continued. "It's so sexy, but a little bit weird. You can talk normally to me if you want. Or maybe not, cause like that way that you talk, it totally makes me hot."

Kevin turned away from her, looking out the window at his side instead; but that apparently was too subtle a hint to silence her.

"And oh my God, I loved that little thing you did at the Chojin Crown when Warsman dressed up as Lord Flash, and then you were pissed when he went off with your dad at the end of the match. I love that storyline where you and your dad don't get on, it's totally awesome."

"It's not a storyline," Kevin grumbled.

"And I was just like "oh my God" when that guy who plays your brother appeared in the story."

Kevin turned sharply, narrowing his eyes at the girl at his side. Unlike her younger sister Trixie, who wore the ganguro look with some degree of success, Jade Maekawa's look bordered on the more extreme yamanba style Kevin had seen some of the girls back in Japan adopt. She was so thickly covered in fake tan Kevin worried that she would stain his furniture, her hair was bleached slightly beyond the point of passing for platinum blonde, her ridiculously vivid coloured contact lenses gave her eyes an eerie gleam and her excessive white make-up almost made her look clownish. Kevin was really unsure if the look was meant to be attractive or not, but it certainly succeeded in turning heads wherever she went.

"Edward is my brother," Kevin told her. "Really. And Robin Mask is my father, and we were all once a happy family living at the Mask Estate."

"No, you like so don't have to do the silly accent and the wrestler act now, it's okay, I totally understand," Jade replied.

Kevin stiffened, his fingers hovering by the release mechanism for the door at his side.

"And it's okay to like have fun with me," she added.

"Fun?" Kevin echoed, eying her incredulously.

"Yeah, it's really cool that you're going out with me and stuff."

"It's really…"

Kevin hesitated, an idea slowly manifesting in his mind, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"So…" he began, remembering the conversation he had shared with Amy the morning they had been alone in her apartment together. "You've got me here with you. What were your other two wishes?"

Jade stared at him blankly for a prolonged moment before breaking into a smile. Kevin smiled back at her, but his smile quickly vanished when he heard her reply.

"Like, oh my God, I haven't heard that one in like weeks!" she said, rolling her eyes. "So like with you, my other two wishes would be that you were naked, and that you were covered in whipped cream."

Kevin suddenly felt his face grow hot, the stifled snorts of laughter from his father doing little to ease his embarrassment.

"I was just…" he began nervously. "I mean, that's an awful thing to say to a woman, I just meant it as a joke! Like if I were to say… "Do you work for UPS? I could have sworn you were checking out my package." They're just – what the hell are you doing?"

Kevin grabbed at the seat and door-handle, staring down with wide eyes at Jade's hand, which was suddenly grabbed around his crotch.

"I totally was checking out your package," she said, gripping her fingers a little tighter and drawing a small squeal of protest from Kevin. "Is that like just the material of your pants that makes it feel like that or do you totally have one of those wangs that's a bit–"

"Fuck this," Kevin muttered, pushing her hand from him and opening the car door.

"Kevin!" Robin yelped, slamming his foot onto the brake pedal.

But before the vehicle could stop, Kevin leapt out of the door, landing in the snow outside and rolling over to his feet. He dusted the snow from his clothing and shook himself off before jogging away from the roadside, heading into the nearby woods, vaguely remembering that there was a shortcut back to the Mask Estate somewhere amongst the trees. Behind him he heard his father reverse rapidly and attempt to take his off-road vehicle off the road and onto the worn old farm track to pursue Kevin, but shortly getting stuck in a pot-hole and becoming unable to move.

"Bloody disaster…" Kevin grumbled, breaking into a run as he located the forest path he remembered from his days in training as a child.

-

* * *

-

Kevin slowly folded his arms, frowning at the sight before him. He was unsure if he wanted to offer assistance to end the sound of Kid Muscle's whimpering, or if he wanted to simply enjoy watching the stupid prince remain entangled in the wire coat-hanger, which he had somehow wound around his head and one elbow.

"Kid, what the heck are you doing?" Roxanne asked him, walking over to him.

"I'm trying to make that advent thing from Blue Peter," Kid grumbled.

"Blue Peter?" Roxanne echoed.

"Well today is like the first Sunday of Advent, and it said on Children's BBC that I have to light a candle attached to some tinsel and two coat-hangers," Kid replied, lifting his free hand to reveal a bottle of super-glue and a boa of red tinsel glued to his fingers.

"So why is the coat-hanger over your head?" Roxanne asked.

"I wanted to see if I could pull my body through the coat-hanger, but I think my muscles are too big," Kid replied.

"More like your pig nose, it's stuck over your fat head, you idiot! Here, let me help…"

Kid began screaming and Roxanne began yelling as the two fought with the coat hanger and the glue, a situation that was certain to only get much more disastrous, so Kevin left the room again, walking a little further down the back hallway of the Mask Estate, taking himself into a room with very large windows that overlooked the back garden. It had been his mother's favourite room, and by luck, it was empty. Kevin quickly closed himself into the room, taking a deep breath and sighing gently, relieved at last to be alone. The previous day had been decidedly awful, from having his driving license taken away from him to an almost date with Trixie's older sister, Kevin had been glad to retire to bed and forget about it.

Moving over to one of the large windows, Kevin perched himself onto the window-ledge, propping up one foot and leaning against the cold glass, watching outside as birds and squirrels hopped around in the melting snow. It was quiet and peaceful and Kevin was really beginning to relax at last, when suddenly something caught his eye. Looking down at his foot, Kevin saw a sheet of paper covered in Kiki's handwriting resting on the windowsill.

"What the…?" he muttered, picking it up curiously. ""Best Ways to Annoy Kevin Mask"… What the hell?"

Kevin growled as a quick scan of the page showed 27 items of apparent ways to make him angry.

"I knew it!" he growled. "I knew that she was deliberately trying to piss me off all this time! She's even made a list of how she does it!"

Kevin studied the list in more detail, running through each of the items, silently noting that he had suffered almost all of them at least once from Kiki, and apparently his ideas that she was conspiring to make him mad were not just paranoia. The list read:

1. Poke him constantly  
2. Shout at him from the top or bottom of the stairs  
3. When he comes down or up, pretend you can't remember what you wanted to tell him  
4. Laugh at him when he gets moody  
5. Talk about how Mars is so much hotter than he is  
6. Dye his hair  
7. Cut his hair  
8. Every third time you say his name, accidentally call him Nick Hasler  
9. Hide his mask  
10. Put Hello Kitty stickers on his mask when he is sleeping  
11. Don't tell him about it  
12. When he finds out, tell him Kid Muscle did it  
13. Tell him you know a wrestler who is stronger than him  
14. When he asks who, pretend you don't know what he's talking about  
15. After stirring your tea/coffee, stick the spoon into the sugar so that it leaves little lumps  
16. Tell him the feather looks girly  
17. Tell him Wally Tusket thinks he's hot  
18. Get him a giant fluffy Hello Kitty for his birthday  
19. Put it in bed with him when he is asleep  
20. Take pictures of him with the kitty  
21. Take pictures of him in the shower  
22. Sell all the pictures on eBay  
23. List them as pictures of Nick Hasler  
24. Put ribbons in his hair when he is asleep  
25. Don't tell him about it  
26. Whistle a Nick Hasler song around him constantly  
27. Laugh and point at him when he starts whistling it too

"Wicked little creature…" Kevin growled, holding the list up to the window, his blood running cold as the light shone through the paper, revealing more writing on the other side. "There are two bloody sides to it?!"

Kevin turned the page over, finding another list almost as long, running from 28 to 53.

"Fifty-three?" he yelped. "What is she doing dreaming up fifty-three ways to piss me off?"

With a growl Kevin read on:

28. Tell him his armour makes him look fat  
29. Tell Kid Muscle Kevin ate all the cow and rice  
30. Handcuff him to Kid Muscle for a day  
31. Sneeze into his protein shake when he can see you do it  
32. Don't apologise for it  
33. Stick your finger in the shake and scoop some out, say "it's not that bad"  
34. Tell him he shouldn't eat fried fish, it will go straight to his hips  
35. Copy his mannerisms until he notices  
36. When he notices, accuse him of copying you  
37. Talk about babies  
38. Talk about puppies  
39. Talk about kittens  
40. Plant lots of flowers in his garden  
41. Steal his motorbike  
42. Re-paint his motorbike pink  
43. Tell him you did it to match his clothes  
44. Regularly use the word "bonerific" in conversation  
45. Regularly sing the most annoying pop song you can think of  
46. Call him Kevvy  
47. Call him a pretty boy  
48. Call him a nancy boy  
49. Repeat everything he says in a really bad impersonation of his voice  
50. Tickle him  
51. Give him a hug  
52. Tell him you love him  
53. Tell him Suguru Kinniku is his real father

"Tell him Suguru Kinniku is his real father?" Kevin snarled out through tightly clenched teeth. "Damn her!"

Kevin screwed up the piece of paper and flung it into the unlit fireplace, silently acknowledging that Kiki's list was at least accurate, because even just reading each item had seriously angered him.

"I'm not angry," he told himself aloud. "I'm not going to have another horrid day…"

Kevin took a deep breath, choking on the air as the door burst open and two giggling blonde girls burst into the room.

"Kevin, your house is totally wack!" Trixie informed him as he turned to her.

"You told me this was all for real," Jade added. "But fairies at the bottom of your garden?"

"What?" Kevin echoed.

"We're not staying here, it's too creepy!" Trixie said. "All those paintings of those weird dudes in iron masks and all these weird rooms and the fairies…"

Trixie sighed, shaking her head.

"Mars made this place sound so cool," Jade added. "And it looked awesome in the _Glory of Love_."

"That was just a studio," Trixie pointed out. "They only filmed the outside of this place, the inside was filmed in some studio somewhere in the centre of London."

Kevin slowly rose to his feet, his curiosity winning over his better senses.

"Are you talking about that Nick Hasler music video?" he asked.

"Yeah, have you seen it yet?" Trixie asked him. "He totally makes this place look awesome!"

Kevin frowned.

"The chart show is on right now," Trixie offered, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "Nick's at number one here in the UK, they reckon he'll be the Christmas number one."

"I don't care," Kevin lied.

Trixie slowly nodded.

"He's so weird," Jade hissed, backing out of the room.

"M-hm," Trixie agreed, following her sister back down the hall.

Kevin sighed in relief, glancing up and down the hall in thought. He eventually chose to go left heading further along the back of the estate, towards the lesser used rooms, looking for one with a television. By luck, he located one of the disused guest rooms which was both empty and had a small, slightly aging, television set sat atop a set of drawers. Sitting onto the edge of the bed, Kevin switched on the television, flicking through the channels until he found a spiky-haired, skinny and irksomely chirpy young man babbling on about the UK music charts. Sitting back, Kevin watched on, deciding that he had a right to at least see how his home had been abused in his absence during the Bad Blood Tournament.

"Which means that, for the second week running, Nick Hasler retains the number one spot with his remake of the classic Peter Cetera hit _Glory of Love_," the man said cheerfully. "Can he hold onto the top spot through Christmas to earn himself his first ever Christmas number one here in the UK? Time will tell. Here is the wonderful Nick Hasler with _Glory of Love_."

"Pff!" Kevin snorted. "What sort of song title is _Glory of Love_? Glory doesn't come from love, it comes from hard work and achieving your goals in life."

Kevin decided that he hated the song as much as he hated Nick Hasler himself when the music video began with a shot of the trees by the perimeter of the Mask Estate, a sickening piano solo playing as the camera slowly panned back from images of the branches of the trees dancing in what was obviously an artificial wind. Kevin stiffened as the pop star came into view, standing leaning against one of the trees, the same dopey look on his face as always; but, to Kevin's utter horror, Nick was dressed in black boots, leather trousers, a pastel pink T-shirt, brown leather gloves and a long, deep blue trenchcoat, his clothing almost identical to Kevin's. His blonde hair was longer than it usually appeared to be and a little darker – and for the first time in his life, Kevin suddenly understood why everyone told him that he looked like the teenage heartthrob.

"Tonight it's very clear," he sang, stepping away from the tree and walking along the path that led to the front entrance of the Mask Estate. "As we're both lying here, there's so many things I wanna say."

"You're not lying anywhere, you idiot," Kevin grumbled. "You're prancing about outside my house, uninvited and unwelcome, just like everyone else around here."

"I will always love you, I would never leave you alone."

Kevin growled as the camera zoomed in on a face that was just a little too like his own for comfort. But the shot did not last long, suddenly shifting to a shot of the pop idol indoors in what Kevin supposed was meant to be the Mask Estate, but was, as Trixie had correctly said earlier, a studio shot. Nick was still dressed in Kevin's clothes, only without the gloves and coat, showing off his skinny arms and legs. He was having a muted argument with a heavily made-up girl with very long, curly dark hair, who was dressed in the sort of stupid frilly outfit Kid Muscle might wear in one of his more ridiculous themed entrances.

"Sometimes I just forget," Nick's voice sang on, over the argument. "Say thing I might regret."

Kevin felt something inside him twitch, but it quickly disappeared again as the shot changed to Nick outdoors again, suddenly in a rainstorm and possibly crying.

"It breaks my heart to see you crying," he sang. "I don't wanna lose you, I could never make it alone."

He dropped his face into one hand and the music began to build dramatically to what was obviously to be the chorus.

"Stupid crap," Kevin muttered, switching off the television. "I don't even care."

Kevin left the room, his face twisting as he faintly heard the song continue from elsewhere within the mansion, indicating that someone else was evidently still watching the chart show.

"I am a man who will fight for your honour," he heard the irritating boy sing. "I'll be the hero you're dreaming of."

"Sentimental clap-trap!" he cursed, turning down another corridor, angered to find that the music was only getting clearer as he walked.

"We'll live forever, knowing together that we did it all for the glory of love."

Kevin was actually glad when he literally walked into his father exiting a room onto the corridor he was walking down.

"Kevin!" Robin greeted him. "There you are! What happened to you lasht night? What were thinking jumping out of the car like that?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, suppressing the urge to say something cutting.

"It just wasn't working for me," he instead said.

"You know women appreciate good mannersh," Robin said carefully.

"I am polite!" Kevin yelled defensively. "I'm a fucking gentleman!"

Robin stared blankly at Kevin, who slowly replayed the sound of his own voice inside his head, realising how stupid he had just sounded without his father saying another word on the matter.

"She wasn't my type," he said quietly. "I couldn't waste my time with a stupid girl like that."

"I undershtand," Robin said, touching a hand to Kevin's shoulder.

"No you don't," Kevin said firmly, pushing Robin's hand from his shoulder. "You met mum when you were still at school."

"We met at Oxford," Robin corrected him.

"Same thing," Kevin groaned. "Mum was always there for you, even though you weren't very reliable for her…"

"I loved your mother more than life, Kevin," Robin said, touching a hand to Kevin's shoulder again. "It alwaysh broke my heart to shee her cry, I never wanted to leave her alone."

Kevin frowned, wondering why he was getting an odd sense of déjà vu upon hearing his father's words.

"I could shtand tall with your mother by my side, she wash my shtrength."

Kevin quirked an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a little nauseous at his father spoke on.

"Excuse me," he said, pushing away his father's hand again and walking on down the hall.

"Kevin!" Robin called after him. "Will you check on the fairy at the bottom of the garden?"

"That was just a children's story that mum told us!" Kevin snapped irritably, quickening his pace and turning to hurry up a staircase. "I'm surrounded by idiots…"

-

* * *

-

Kevin awoke with a small grunt, turning his head to the clock radio at his side, wondering why it had started playing at 3:13 in the afternoon.

"You keep me standing tall," a sickeningly familiar voice sang from the slightly crackling radio. "You help me through it all, I'm always strong when you're beside me. I have always needed you, I could never make it alone."

"He was quoting a bloody song!" Kevin roared, smacking the radio to the floor as he found his father echoing the lyrics of Nick Hasler's song inside his head. "Idiots! I am surrounded by idiots!"

Kevin got out of bed, not particularly surprised to find that he had been sleeping in his boots again. He left his bedroom and started down the hall, finding Kiki walking towards him.

"Oh Kevin, I was just looking for you!" she brightened as she spotted him.

"Me?" he echoed, stopping short. "Are you sure? Aren't you really looking for Kevvy, Suguru Kinniku's illegitimate bastard son who likes to be hugged and poked and tickled and photographed in the nude? You know, that nancy boy whose dignity you seek to auction off on eBay?"

Kiki's face dropped, her freckled cheeks turning pink.

"Did you find the list?" she asked in a low voice.

"You're bloody right I did!" Kevin snapped.

"Which one did you find?" Kiki asked.

"What do you mean "which one did I find"? You mean to tell me that there is more than one?!"

"Well, I started handwriting the list one night when I was on the phone to Trixie–"

"You were what? It was you that was clocking up all those long-distance phone-calls! I knew it!"

"Yeah, that was on the list too, huh?"

"What?"

"Running up phone-bills, sending you fake fan-mail… It was all meant in fun."

"Running up phone bills and sending me fake fan-mail…"

"Oh, you must have found the first list, the handwritten one. I typed it on up on the computer, it's five pages long, there are like 327 things on there."

Kevin growled.

"And now I guess I can make it a bit longer…" Kiki added, giggling into her hand.

"You're a nasty little flake," Kevin grumbled.

"Ooh, that's a new one!" Kiki chirped. "Hey, did you see Nick Hasler's video yet?"

"Kind of. I don't much care for miserable love songs. Romance is a concept manufactured by the confectionary and greeting card industries."

"Kevin!"

Kiki looked genuinely horrified with Kevin's response, and he actually began to feel a little guilty.

"Alright, I'll admit that you and Mars have something… Well you have something," he grumbled reluctantly.

"We have something special," Kiki corrected him. "Come with me, you should watch the video."

"I don't want to."

"Well I recorded it especially, so just come with me and watch it, okay? If you don't, I'll distribute the list to everyone in the house and challenge them to a race to see who can complete the list first!"

Kevin narrowed his eyes, only too aware that Kiki was not bluffing.

"Alright," he resigned.

"This way," she said, beckoning him to follow her.

Kevin followed Kiki to the room she shared with Mars, hesitating at the doorway as he anticipated finding it converted into some sort of horrid boudoir bedecked with erotica; but to his surprise, the room was very clean, bright and tidy, and actually looked quite homely. Kiki fiddled with some switches on the television by the end of the bed before sitting back and indicating that Kevin should sit next to her. Accepting his fate, Kevin sat down and turned to the television, watching once more as the music video began to play.

Watching it a second time and to its conclusion did not enamour Kevin any more to the song, the video or the artist. Every shot of Nick Hasler showed him looking increasingly like Kevin, which was really quite distressing as he was acting like a fool, chasing after a wilting willow of a girl who collapsed several times onto chaise longue and gasped at the sight of Nick prancing through rose-beds and riding around on a black horse, declaring his undying devotion to her. The whole thing made Kevin sick and he was glad when it finally ended, his eyes, ears and mind once more free to rest from the evils of the melodramatic melody.

Kiki switched off the television, turning to Kevin and smiling smugly.

"It's not funny," he said flatly. "Not only was he dressed as me throughout, but in that bit about being a knight in shining armour, he was wearing a mask like mine too!"

"That's not what I meant," Kiki said sternly. "Doesn't it remind you of anything?"

"No, should it?"

"Oh Kevin! Doesn't it make you feel anything?"

"Nausea? Irritation? Boredom?"

"Get out of here, you heartless jerk! You deserve to be alone!"

"Hey!"

Kevin leapt off the bed as Kiki began hurling pillows and stuffed toys at him, backing up to the door.

"Go sort out that fairy in your garden!" Kiki yelled at him in the instant before he slammed the door between them.

"Fairy in my garden?" he muttered to himself. "What bloody fairy?"

Despite feeling really foolish about it, Kevin surrendered to curiosity for the second time that day and made his way out of the back door of the Mask Estate.

Outside the ground was covered with a layer of slush, patterned by the imprints of the footprints of birds, squirrels and rabbits. Looking down the length of the quite extensive garden, Kevin saw no signs of any winged females carrying wands and spreading mischief; but he decided that before he could argue the point with anyone, he had to be sure that their claims were totally unfounded. Walking down the garden, Kevin occasionally glanced about himself, expecting Mars to jump out at any moment brandishing a video camera and laughing at his stupidity; but the moment never came.

The compost heap, the small nursery and the tall trees that marked the boundaries of the garden came into view, and Kevin began to think that he had just encountered another couple of items for Kiki's list: "pretend there are fairies in his garden", "send him to look for them", "laugh at him when he realises it was a joke and gets angry".

But then the sound of soft sobbing reached his ears.

Slowing his pace and looking about for the source of the sound, Kevin almost began to grow nervous. He was almost positive that fairies living at the bottom of the garden was just a myth, a story that parents told their children; but in the house he had just left behind him there was a talking robot, a talking walrus, a talking gazelle, and a bird-man, so anything was possible.

"Kevin?" a voice gasped.

Kevin froze on the spot, the familiarity of the voice suddenly making it seem much colder than it actually was outside.

"Oh my God Kevin, I'm so glad to see you again!"

Kevin groaned as something collided with his mid-section, looking down to find a long-haired slender person suddenly attached to him, gripping him into a hug and sobbing into his chest.

"Oh Kevin it's so awful! I came here because I didn't know where else to go! I knew you wouldn't turn me away like those other mean wrestlers did, I knew you would let me in and help me, I knew you were a good man, Kevin Mask!"

Kevin opened his mouth to ask Sprite what he was doing in the back garden of the Mask Estate and how he had got there, but before he got the chance to talk, Sprite began again.

"Oh Kevin, when Edward left, I didn't know what to do! He was so cold! He wouldn't let me go with him! He just told me he had to "employ the fifth element" and left me behind! I don't even know what the fifth element is, Kevin! I don't even know what the first, second, third and fourth elements were! Oh Kevin, whatever am I to do? I'm a wreck!"

Kevin sighed, looking straight ahead, his eyes thinning into dangerous and angered slits of blue.

"Someone is doing this to me," he growled quietly. "Someone is deliberately torturing me with all of this crap, and it's not even funny. And it's probably a woman…"

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** With yet another unwanted houseguest joining the crowd in his home, Kevin thinks life can't possibly get any worse for him; but that's before Kiki surprises Kevin with some insight, and Kevin makes a phone-call will change his life. **Chapter 27 – The Fifth Element**.

**A/N(2) (Pre-recorded, because Lucretia D has fled after Kevin broke the fourth wall and discovered her nasty ways):** _Glory of Love_ by Peter Cetera, never re-released as far as I am aware.

Blue Peter is a popular children's show on the BBC here in the UK. The advent thing Kid was trying to make symbolic is with the show.

This should have been the last chapter, right? Right?! Wrong. Never one to end things neatly or without some Disney fluff, there are another SIX CHAPTERS OF EMO DRAMA TO GO… I'm not nearly finished with Kevvy yet…


	27. The Fifth Element

**A/N:** Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again... This is the final lap of the plot, I promise!

I forgot to point the smaller cultural details out in the last chapter, so in this chapter I should say that Heathrow is the main airport in London, and Gatwick is a smaller, crappier airport in London.

And I'm making an assumption on the Mackintosh (Kevin's mother's) family based on their surname (the prefix Mac is Scottish).

**Recap:** Kevin found life back in London to be pretty trying when the entire Muscle League and their associated significant others moved in with him, he lost his driving license, was forced on a disastrous date with Trixie's sister, had to endure Nick Hasler's music video, learned about Kiki's list, found Sprite living in his garden… And whatever else it was that I did to him in that chapter.

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 27 – The Fifth Element**

"You're going to have to let go," Kevin said firmly, grabbing Sprite's arms and tugging them from his waist. "Come on inside, you can get yourself a cup of tea and I'll call a taxi for you."

"Oh Kevin, you're wonderful!" Sprite sighed, gazing up at him lovingly, his watery eyes looking all the more absurd against the faint purple line still imprinted across the middle of his face from the Muscle Millennium he had suffered during the Bad Blood Tournament the previous month. "You're even more wonderful than I ever imagined you could possibly be: Kevin, you are fabulous!"

"Okay first of all, don't ever use my name and the word fabulous in the same sentence again, you hear?" Kevin said sternly. "And second of all, don't ever forget that I am a nasty bastard!"

Sprite nodded his head, but the dreamy grin on his face as he chewed on his lower lip did little to ease Kevin's concerns.

"Come along," Kevin said as he grabbed one of Sprite's elbows and began dragging him harshly back up the garden.

"You're leading me up the garden path!" Sprite giggled at his side. "Ooh, you really are a nasty bastard Kevin!"

"I'm taking you inside, you look like shit," Kevin said bluntly.

"You're taking me home with you!" Sprite added.

"I don't have any other choice, I can't have you squatting in my garden like some sort of gypsy boy!"

"You're very dominant, Kevin. You really know what you want, and you always say what you mean."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Okay, I'll be a good boy!"

Kevin growled angrily, kicking open the back door and marching briskly indoors, kicking the door shut behind himself again and dragging Sprite all the way to the main kitchen, where he deposited him onto a chair by the small dining table.

"Stay there!" Kevin instructed him. "Don't move and don't talk!"

Sprite mimed zipping his lips shut and nodded his head. Kevin turned from him, finding Mars in his usual place: his head buried in the fridge.

"Kev, you don't usually come in here," he said, closing the door and stepping back. "What gives, you gotta – holy shit, Kev!"

Mars's eyes doubled in size as he sighted Sprite sitting neatly at the table behind Kevin.

"What da hell is dat little fairy boy doin' in here?" he demanded.

"I couldn't leave him in the garden," Kevin replied, filling the kettle at the tap.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Kiki asked entering the room. "Oh my God, Sprite? You were the fairy?"

Sprite waved at her from the table and Kiki snatched the kettle from Kevin, nudging him aside with a bash from her hip.

"You're so rude Kevin, you ought to be making tea for our guest!" she scolded him.

"That's exactly what I was doing!" Kevin protested.

"Sure it was…" Kiki muttered, plugging the kettle in and flicking the switch.

"Hey guys, there's a flight to Tokyo tomorrow, we're thinking we'll probably catch it," Trixie said, entering the room with Roxanne and Jacqueline.

"Hey girls, look who's here!" Kiki said to them, pointing at Sprite.

"Hey, it's the little drama queen from Eddie's gang!" Jacqueline commented.

Kevin watched in a state of bemusement as the girls all crowded round Sprite, who whispered to them that he was not allowed to talk, causing them all to glare angrily at Kevin.

"You know, this time last month, that idiot was holding you all prisoner in horrible conditions," Kevin pointed out. "Or did you all forget about that already?"

"Sprite isn't evil like those other DMP guys were, he's just completely misunderstood!" Kiki argued back.

"I'm misunderstood!" Kevin returned.

"No, you just misunderstand," Jacqueline corrected him.

"I don't understand…" Kevin muttered.

"We know you don't," Roxanne sighed.

"And that's why we don't like you," Trixie added.

Kevin sighed, turning to leave the room, only to stop abruptly as a screeching wail made his ears ache so badly he had to stick his fingers in them to confirm that they were not actually bleeding.

"Kevin, don't leave me!" Sprite begged. "I couldn't bear it if you left me too!"

"I was never with you to begin with!" Kevin snapped, rounding on him. "How can you be worrying about losing something that you've never even had?"

"Good question," Kiki said dryly.

Kevin turned to her questioningly, but she merely arched her eyebrows at him as though he ought to already understand her meaning.

"Just sit down Kevin," Roxanne suggested. "Don't you want to hear what's become of your brother?"

"Not particularly," Kevin frankly replied. "Unless he has drastically changed his ways or he is dead, I don't want to know about it."

"Dead?" Sprite gasped, gathering his fists by his open mouth.

"I'm sure he's not," Kevin assured him. "He's very resourceful, if nothing else."

"Sit down, Kevin!" Kiki insisted, pushing him into a chair opposite Sprite. "Here you are," she said gently to Sprite, handing him a mug of tea.

"Why did you give me the crappy china?" he instantly asked before accepting her offer. "I'm a guest here!"

He glowered at her as he took the mug, sniffing at it suspiciously before taking a sip.

"Ugh, it's horrid!" he spat, shaking his head and thrusting the mug in Kiki's direction again, spilling most of the contents in the process. "Wicked girl, serving me such a foul, second-rate beverage when I am clearly pained!"

"Just get to the point, where's Edward and why aren't you with him?" Kevin asked Sprite.

"Oh Kevin!" Sprite sighed, turning back to Kevin and smiling sweetly. "It was awful! After you so kindly spared Edward's life he was taken to hospital, and that ungrateful cad Fargo up and left us on our own!"

"Stop right there," Kevin said, holding up a hand. "If you must tell me the entire story, please at least do so without the verbal ornaments."

Sprite frowned, tilting his head to one side and pouting a little before nodding his head.

"I'm sorry Kevin, I just get so passionate about things sometimes," he said gently, patting Kevin's hand.

Kevin hurriedly snatched his hand back, glaring menacingly at the little elf Chojin, who was still smiling at him with a look akin to hero worship.

"The point," Kevin said sternly. "Get to it. Now."

"Alright," Sprite said with a nod of his head. "After Fargo left, Edward became very quiet, and I knew that he must be plotting something, but he wouldn't share it with me. He has always shared everything with me, ever since the day me first met and we shared a strawberry sundae by the beach–"

"Also without the asides," Kevin warned.

"So anyway three days ago Edward packed his bags and left," Sprite continued. "I asked him where he was going, and he said he wanted to celebrate Saint Andrew's Day the best way he knew how. I was ecstatic, I thought he had finally seen sense and decided to make amends with his family, so I went and packed my bags to go with him. But I spent too long dithering over whether my long red coat or my three-quarter length green coat would be more appropriate to the English climate, and by the time I was packed Edward was gone without a trace! I quickly got to the airport and tried to get a flight to London, but there were no direct flights that day, so I had to fly to Paris and then get a connecting flight to London, and when got to Paris I could only get a flight to Gatwick, all the flights to Heathrow were delayed or fully booked, and who flies to Gatwick? What sort of impression would that make on my future father-in-law–"

"Stop!" Kevin warned. "Robin Mask is not your future father-in-law."

"But I–"

"I just want the important details here. Edward left Tokyo, didn't say where he was going, so you came to London because you assumed that he was coming back home. What made you think that?"

"Nothing, I was just hoping that he would come back here."

"Is there anywhere else he might have gone instead?"

"Well, he didn't say very much at all!"

"Not like him, what did he actually say?"

"He said he wanted to celebrate Saint Andrew's Day the best way he knew how, and that he was going to employ the fifth element. He seemed really pleased about that fifth element, but…"

Sprite shuddered, tears forming in his eyes.

"I don't even know what the first, second–"

"We get it!" Kevin interrupted him. "Suck it up, this is no time for tears!"

Sprite obediently sniffed sharply and hardened his resolve.

"I understand your logic," Kevin said, nodding his head.

"I don't," Mars bluntly interjected. "Why would Eddie come back here again, especially after we beat his sorry ass in da ring?"

"It was the things he said," Kevin patiently explained. "Saint Andrew's day was on the 30th of November, my mother's family were Scottish, we always celebrated it, so Edward saying that he wanted to celebrate it again does imply that he intended to come back here and possibly make amends. But if he left Tokyo on the same day as his friend and caught an earlier flight, he should have been here long ago."

"What about that "fifth element"?" Kiki asked. "What does that mean? It sounds like he's had or owned four things, and now he's going after the fifth thing in that series."

"That sounds logical too," Kevin admitted, surprised himself that Kiki had actually said something helpful. "But what four things has he had that there would be a fifth of?"

Sprite gasped.

"Lovers!" he whispered dramatically. "I was his fourth!"

"No you weren't!" Kevin argued.

"I was!" Sprite insisted, nodding his head diligently. "There were three others before me."

Mars snorted behind Kevin, and Kevin silently hoped that Mars would not voice what he was thinking; but of course Mars had never learned the meaning of the word tact.

"Your little brother has seen more action dan you have, Kev!" he grunted, poking Kevin in the shoulder.

"Shut-up, Tweety-Pie!" Kevin growled.

"Yeah Mars, we all know Kevin isn't exactly the king of charm, but he is still smoking hot," Trixie said. "I'm pretty sure he's been with a lot more than four girls in his life!"

Mars started to correct Trixie but Kevin hurriedly shoved back his chair, the curved bar along the top of the high-backed seat slamming into Mars's crotch and bringing a slightly girlish moan from him as he doubled over in pain.

"This is all quite silly," Kevin announced, standing from his seat. "Excuse me."

Kevin shoved Mars hard enough to make him fall to the ground, casting him a warning glare before he left the room; but Kevin was barely ten feet down the hall before he heard a collection of gasps and squeals emanate from the kitchen, followed by Sprite's voice confirming to Kevin that Mars had been tactless enough to continue the conversation regardless.

"A virgin?" Sprite shrieked incredulously.

Kevin scowled darkly, silently determining to do some lasting damage to Mars at the next Chojin Crown, and to ensure that they met in the first round, so that he could eliminate the arrogant bastard straight away. Kevin took himself to the gym, relieved to find it empty, as he intended to spend the next few hours working off the excess of adrenalin his anger had produced in his body.

"Idiots," he muttered, stepping up onto one of the treadmills. "Every single on of them. I am surrounded by idiots."

Kevin set the speed on the treadmill to a medium setting and began to jog along. After a few seconds, when his body did not yet feel the strain of being pushed too far, he turned the speed up a little more, breaking into a run. When that still did not satisfy his anger, Kevin turned the speed up as high as it would go and sprinted along, his hair bouncing at his shoulders.

"Idiots," he growled. "I hate them all! What are they doing here anyway? Bloody Mars!"

Kevin continued to sprint against the rubber of the treadmill until he heard a small beeping noise and an error message flashed at him, followed by the machine switching itself off. Kevin turned to a punching bag and began attacking that until it exploded and dropped a pile of sand onto the floor. He then moved onto a weights bench, and continued on around the gym until it was dark outside the windows and he was suddenly surrounded by chaos, apparently everything in the gym broken by one means or another. It was at that point that Kevin noticed that he had been joined in the room, and perhaps by the least likely unwelcome guest of his household.

"I came in here three times before, but you didn't even notice me. You've been in here for hours, it's quite frightening."

Kevin wiped his hair from his sweating face, pacing back and forth on one of the few clear areas of flooring.

"You're like an animal."

Kevin sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I feel bad about what we did to you though. So I got you this."

Kevin stopped abruptly as Kiki stood up from where she had been sat on a weights bench and began to walk towards him.

"I hope you don't mind, I fished one of your T-shirts and pair of your jeans out of the laundry and measured them up and added on a bit to figure out what size you would need."

Kevin stared blankly at the large black trenchcoat Kiki was holding out towards him, suddenly at a loss for words.

"I know you prefer blue, but I couldn't get one big enough in blue, so I hope you like it," Kiki said, giving him a small, optimistic smile that made something in his chest twinge.

"You bought this for me?" he asked, turning to her.

"Try it on," she suggested.

Kevin slowly took the coat from her, never moving his eyes from Kiki as he slowly pulled it on. Once the coat was fully on Kevin suddenly found his eyes moving to himself in shock; Kiki had actually done well because the coat fitted perfectly and seemed to be the exact same size as his last one.

"Thank you Kiki," he said quietly.

"I feel sorry for you," Kiki added quietly.

Kevin lifted his eyes to Kiki once more, staring at her blankly.

"Don't get me wrong, you do really make me mad sometimes," she said, shaking his fists for effect. "But I think it's so sad that you're always so alone."

"I'm not alone, I have fifty people living in my house," Kevin dryly replied. "Uninvited and unwelcome!"

Kiki rolled her eyes and gave a small sigh.

"Kevin you're really smart, but you always say such stupid things," she said.

"Hey!" Kevin protested. "Watch your mouth, your saucy little–"

"Kevin, please," Kiki stopped him. "I came here for two reasons. One was to give you the coat. The other was to tell you something that I think you need to hear. And I'm probably the only person who cares enough to say it to you, so here goes."

"Cares?" Kevin repeated.

"Yes!" Kiki insisted, slapping his arm lightly. "I've learned a lot about you lately, and I see now that you've spent most of your life on your own, and you're really just a social retard, like Amy said."

"What?" Kevin yelped.

"It was in her diary. And she was right. You have the social development of a three year old. But you have a good heart Kevin, and I know that you mean well. And I learnt something about you from Mars, and it made me sad."

"Look, if this is about my… Lack of experience with persons of the opposite sex, then–"

"Not exactly. Mars said that you don't eat rich food, you don't drink fine wine, you don't take vacations, you don't let people love you – basically you deny yourself a lot of the nicest things in life, and you shouldn't do that Kevin. When was the last time you laughed until it hurt?"

Kevin gulped, his face draining of colour at the sound of Amy's question coming from Kiki's lips.

"I thought so," Kiki said, nodding her head. "Look, Kevin, I know Mars can be a little insensitive sometimes, but I can always read between the lines with him, and I saw a different side to the stories he tells us about your days together at the DMP."

Kevin narrowed his eyes, growing increasingly suspicious about where Kiki was heading with her conversation and just why she was being so nice to him; it was sudden, unexpected and slightly unwelcome to Kevin, who had grown so accustomed to her despising and irritating him at every turn.

"I found something of yours," she said quietly. "I wanted to laugh at it. I wanted to make a joke of it, I wanted to tell all the others, and I wanted it to be something else to torment you with… But I couldn't do it, because it made me sad. I remembered what Mars said about how you deny yourself things, and I remembered what I read of Amy's diaries, and I realised that this was something else you were denying yourself."

Kevin stiffened as Kiki held up a small, well-handled and slightly yellowed card.

"You're maybe just a grumpy, fussy task-master to me and all the other girls here, but to Amy you're an angel," Kiki said before holding the card out towards Kevin.

Kevin slowly took it from her, reading both sides of it even though he did not need to, because he had the exact details of them memorised by heart anyway.

"Wh-where did you find this?" he asked, looking up at Kiki again.

"Mars was taking money out of your wallet, and that fell out," she reluctantly confessed. "He gave it to me and told me to have fun with it, but I can't have fun with something that isn't funny."

"Amy gave this to me the night she was attacked by Doomsmane," Kevin explained. "She was… In a lot of pain, and she didn't realise who I was. She just thought I was some guy who saved her life. When she realised it was me, she smacked me in the face with my own mask and swore at me."

Kiki shrugged, a look passing over her face that made Kevin suspicious all over again.

"I watched the videos of the first version of the Bad Blood Tournament," she said slowly. "The girls and I wanted to see how much of what Eddie had told us about those fights was actually true. I saw her with you at every fight. She was sitting on your lap when Kid and Checkmate fought in that outdoor match at the Sapporo Dome and you had your arms around her."

Kevin paused, his memory slowly recalling how Amy had been about to challenge Edward over Roxanne's safety that evening and he had pulled her back, inadvertently pulling her onto his lap in an attempt to stop her.

"She sat next to us at your match against Mars in the Chojin Crown final," Kiki added. "She was about the only person cheering for you."

"That was because for all she hates me, she hates Mars a little bit more," Kevin pointed out.

"Kevin, why don't you just call her?" Kiki suggested. "You could live the rest of you life alone and bitter, but what good would that ever do? Don't you want some happiness in your life? She's only here for a few more days, just call her."

"What?" Kevin echoed, his eyes widening. "She's here? Amy? Is here?"

"Well, I'm not sure where she is exactly, but I do know that she's definitely back on Earth," Kiki said. "I spoke to Kid earlier, he told me that he's in no hurry to go back to Muscle Planet because his chef left a few days ago to come back to Earth. He was really vague about it, so I called the IWF headquarters – I got a direct number for Ikeman from Jacqueline – and I asked if they could get a message to King Muscle for me. I asked him where Amy was, and Kid's mother sent back a message to say that Amy had left in a hurry a couple of days ago, and all she said was that she had to come back to Earth because somebody close to her had died and she wanted to attend the funeral. I don't know if she's in Japan or if she went back to wherever her family live, but I do know that she is still on Earth, and now you have some numbers to call, I think you should contact her."

"She should be contacting me if she's back here," Kevin said stubbornly.

"Oh Kevin, do something spontaneous and romantic for just once in your life!" Kiki snapped, planting her hands on her hips. "Do it for the "glory of love"! Be the hero she's been dreaming of! Be her knight in shining armour and whisk her away to your castle!"

"Don't start with that crap!" Kevin warned her. "And besides, you obviously know nothing about Amy. She doesn't need a hero to save her from anything, she braver than most of the Muscle League and strong enough to look after herself. She doesn't need me. She doesn't need anybody."

Kiki sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I've done my bit, the rest is up to you," she said, reaching one hand into her jean pocket and fishing around for a moment before producing a small piece of note paper. "Here's the numbers for Amy's apartment you and Mars stayed in and the restaurant she worked in there in case you need them. Good luck."

Kevin took the piece of paper from Kiki, who bowed her head to him and smiled sweetly. She turned on her heel and walked out of the gym without a backward glance, leaving Kevin standing alone amidst the mess he had created, still drenched in his own sweat and dressed in his new coat, Amy's fake business card in one hand and the numbers Kiki had noted for him in the other. He slowly looked about himself, feeling a little ridiculous, before gathering the note and card together and tearing them into pieces. He flung the torn fragments into the air and left the gym, taking himself up to his own room, where he intended to shower and then sleep the rest of the day away.

-

* * *

-

A little after ten the following morning, Kevin sat on the edge of his bed, a laptop rested on his legs and a phone in his hand. He glanced back and forth between the two before telling himself that he had to follow through with his plan, or else he would never get any peace. Kevin then dialled the number currently on the screen in front of him, before lifting the phone to his ear. The line rang for what seemed like an unreasonable length of time before a babble of noise filled Kevin's ear, and a barely audible voice told him he had reached Hiroshi's Hot House, but the restaurant was fully booked for that night.

"Yes, I don't want a table, I'm looking for Amy MacLeod," Kevin shouted.

"You want a what?" the voice shouted back.

"Amy!" Kevin yelled. "Amy MacLeod! Is she there?"

"Who is this?"

"Kevin Mask."

"Kevin, hello! This is Hiroshi.

"Hello."

"Amy went back to Muscle Planet."

"I know that, but she's back on Earth this week. Have you seen her?"

"No."

"Do you know where she might be? She had to go to a funeral."

"A funeral? It wasn't anybody here Kevin, sorry. We haven't seen her since the night she visited you here during the Bad Blood Tournament."

"Okay, thanks."

Kevin hung up the phone and took a deep breath, telling himself that he had started the process and so he might as well finish it, clicking onto another window on his laptop to bring up another telephone number. Kevin dialled the next number, and received an answer far quicker.

"Good evening, High Park Ladies' Club, how may I help you?"

"I'm looking for Amy MacLeod, a former employee of yours, do you know if she has been there recently?"

"I'm sorry Sir, I don't know anyone by that name. Hold the line, I'll check with my manager."

Kevin waited patiently for a several seconds until the woman returned to the line.

"I'm sorry Sir, nobody here has ever heard of Amy MacLeod," she said.

"Has any of your staff died recently?"

"Um…"

"I believe there was a funeral, only I don't know who it was."

"Oh… Well no, nobody here has died."

"Okay, thank you."

Kevin hung up the telephone, wincing at the sight of the next number on the screen before him.

"This ought to be fun…" he grumbled as he dialled the number.

"Good evening, this is The Palace, what can I do for you tonight?" a sultry voice greeted him.

"I'm looking for Amy MacLeod," Kevin said firmly.

"Our staff can be whoever you want them to be–"

"No, please, I'm looking for Amy MacLeod. If there is not somebody there who is legally named Amy MacLeod, then I don't want to know about it."

There was a long pause before the woman finally answered Kevin.

"I'm sorry, there is nobody here with that name."

"Thank you."

Kevin hung up the phone, sighing as his patience began to wear thin. He could still remember the two telephone numbers imprinted on Amy's fake business card by heart, but calling them seemed pointless; after all, those had been Amy's contact details almost five years ago, it was unlikely that either number would locate her. But, Kevin told himself, he might at least manage to find out which funeral she had been at, and so he started with the home number she had given.

"Yo," a young male voice answered him.

"Hello, I'm looking for Amy Macleod," Kevin replied.

"Who?" the boy asked.

"Amy," Kevin said carefully. "Amy MacLeod."

"Sorry dude, you've got the wrong number."

Kevin opened his mouth to ask about deaths, but the boy had hung up before he could talk again. Kevin shrugged and dialled the cell phone number Amy had given, laughing and shaking his head in anticipation of an "out of service" robot answering him; but to his surprise the phone began to ring.

And it was answered halfway through the second ring.

"Well, well, well," a voice greeted him. "If it isn't the Mask Estate calling little old me."

Kevin froze, barely believing what he was hearing, a small part of him wondering if he had temporarily slipped into some sort of bizarre alternate dimension.

"Kevin, I never knew that you cared! And Kevin, do you know, I was just about to call you! You've just saved me the cost of a phone call, how considerate of you!"

Kevin opened his mouth, but words failed him.

"You're very quiet Kevin, that's not like you. Have you missed me?"

Kevin felt his insides spasm, a sickening blend of fear and anger brewing in the pit of his stomach, the feeling only multiplying as a throaty chuckle resounded in his ear through the phone.

"Oh Kevin, you forgot all about the fifth element, didn't you? You should have killed me when you had the chance Kevin, because now you're about to find out how it feels to lose something precious to you, big brother."

"E-Edward?" Kevin whispered, the laptop slipping from his legs and clattering against the floor.

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** Bad Mary Sues die hard… Kevin finds out what Edward really meant by "employ the fifth element", and Edward makes a direct challenge to his brother. **Chapter 28 – Maelstrom**.


	28. Maelstrom

**A/N:** M'kay, after posting the last chapter and checking it out online, I've learned that the phrase "die hard" means something different in the rest of the world to what it does here in the UK… I meant the British meaning, which is "doesn't give up easily", ie bad Mary Sues don't leave this fic easily (Amy and Edward are back). Sorry for the confusion there folks, I'm usually pretty good at eliminating cultural _faux pas_ from my work too!!!

**Recap:** Kevin learned that Edward had abandoned what was left of The Anarchists though nobody knew why and Kiki encouraged Kevin to call Amy; but when he did, brother Edward answered the phone…

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 28 – Maelstrom**

"Oh Kevin, you forgot all about the fifth element, didn't you? You should have killed me when you had the chance Kevin, because now you're about to find out how it feels to lose something precious to you, big brother."

"E-Edward?" Kevin whispered, the laptop slipping from his legs and clattering against the floor.

"That's right," Edward sneered into the phone. "When I planned my initial attack on the Muscle League, I made a small mistake. I thought that there were only four ways to get inside the heads of the pathetic Justice Chojins. Four elements to manipulate so that I could dominate the Muscle League. Element number one: the girl next door, a sure way to control Mars. Element number two: the princess, a sure way to control Kid Muscle. Element number three: the chairman's sister, a way to control Jaeger and the IWF. Element number four: the beauty queen, the key to controlling Terry Kenyon. I never realised that there was a fifth element, a means of controlling the almighty Kevin Mask! Element number five: the scar-faced spy."

"What have you done?" Kevin asked, his voice a little uneven. "Where is she?"

"She's right here with me, big brother. Say hello to Kevin Mask, scarface!"

Kevin almost choked on the mounting tension in his gut as he faintly heard Amy's voice call out through the phone.

"Kevin! Help me, Kevin!"

Amy's voice was a pitch higher than usual, and it sounded as though she was or had just been crying; and to his utter disbelief, she had just asked for his help.

"She's still alive Kevin," Edward said, sounding almost cheerful about the matter. "I was going to kill her and send her head to you as a parting gift, but then I remembered a few things about you and your silly little hang-ups over mother and the DMP, and I decided that it would be far more fitting to allow you the opportunity to watch this bitch burn alive right here at the hideout."

"The hideout?" Kevin growled. "You're at old DMP hideout? With Amy?"

"Well done Kevin, you're finally showing shades of the intellect they all claim that you possess. I don't want a wrestling match with IWF officials counting people out, and checking for vital signs… I just want you back here, where it all began. You and me, in the "ring of death", no cameras, no silly fans, no press, no aides, just you, me, and twenty feet squared of wrestling ring. Only one man escapes alive."

Kevin hesitated, the faint, barely decipherable sound of sobbing reaching his ear.

"Let her go," he tried. "I will gladly fight you again any time, any place, under any circumstances, but let Amy go, this has nothing to do with her."

"Let her go?" Edward repeated, before laughing in a dark and disturbing manner. "After going to all that trouble to bring her back here? And miss the look on your face as she melts into oblivion in the fiery pits of this volcano? Oh I don't think so, Kevin! You know where we are, don't leave us "hanging" too long, will you?"

"Edward, you let her go!"

Kevin stood abruptly as his demand was met with more laughter before the line went dead. He yanked back the phone, glaring at it in disbelief. He remained frozen in that position for a moment before hurriedly hitting the redial key and moving the phone back to his ear; but a robotic voice told him that the phone he was trying to call had been switched off. Kevin opened his fingers, allowing the phone to fall to the floor. The agonising tension that had been building within him suddenly vanished to be replaced by a calm confidence and utter sense of invincibility that literally crackled around him, creating a soft glow of yellow within the room.

Kevin walked from the room, his face expressionless, and began navigating his way through the hallways and down the staircase that would take him outside.

"Hey Kevin, Mars said that you're not allowed to use your bike any more, so I was thinking maybe I could borrow it?"

Kevin paused, turning to glare at Kid, who clattered back against the wall, staring at him fearfully with wide eyes.

"K-Kevin?" he whimpered meekly. "You okay?"

"I have to go somewhere Mantaro," Kevin said quietly. "I may be gone some time. Tell the others for me, won't you?"

Kid made an inhuman whine that Kevin took to be an agreement, and he turned from the cowardly prince, continuing out the front door and down the steps to the forecourt. It was raining outside, a horrid, hard, frost-ridden torrent; but each splat of ice water sizzled against Kevin's skin as he pushed the button to open the garage door.

"Kevin, you're not allowed to use your bike, remember?" Kiki screeched, running out after him.

Kevin ducked under the door and entered the garage, not even noticing as Kiki skidded to a halt halfway across the forecourt, staring dumbly after him.

"Whassup, sweetheart?" Mars called to her.

Kiki pointed at the garage and opened her mouth to speak but was sharply cut off as the roaring sound of a motorcycle coming to life filled the air, the noise magnified as it echoed around the garage walls. A second later the bike shot out of the garage in a blur of black and yellow.

"Hey baby, didn't I tell you not to push Kev too far?" Mars said, shaking his head at Kiki. "See what you gone and done now? Kev is a real sensitive guy ya know, ya gotta consider his feelings when you're sayin' stuff to him, yeah?"

Kiki turned to Mars, thinning her eyes and arching her eyebrows at him, wondering when he would realise the hypocrisy of the statement he had just made.

"He could get into a lotta trouble goin' out dere on dat bike!" Mars added, pointing in the direction Kevin had disappeared in.

"Well darling, don't you think that we should go after him then?" Kiki asked.

"Nah, he'll be back, he probably just wanted to let off some steam, yeah?"

Kiki sighed in resignation and followed Mars back into the mansion, silently hoping that Kevin was not about to do something reckless.

-

* * *

-

"I've come to collect my things."

The ironmonger cried out, almost falling off his stool at the sight before him. He had been enjoying a short break from his work, and the sound of a customer entering the shop had not overly bothered him; but he had not expected to find a monstrously huge man emitting a golden light suddenly standing over him.

"Uh…" he began nervously. "Y-your mask and your armour, you mean?"

"Yes."

The iron-monger cringed a little before gulping nervously.

"Y-your mask isn't ready, I did say that I needed another week to complete it…"

"What about my armour?"

"I uh… I haven't started on it yet."

"Give it back to me as it is, it'll be fine."

The ironmonger obediently grabbed the heavy dark blue metal from a nearby shelf and pushed it onto the counter towards the frightening man before him.

"Those cracks are quite bad…" he said slowly. "The whole thing could break apart quite easily."

"It's fine."

The ironmonger watched as the man collected his armour and walked off again, taking the unnatural gold light with him.

"Well that was weird…" he muttered, scratching his head.

-

* * *

-

The flight from London to Tokyo was long, and the massive shift in time zone ought to have been exhausting; but Kevin could not sleep. He had lost any desire to eat or sleep since his conversation with Edward, and he had no real concept of time other than the faint idea that it might not be on his side if Edward grew impatient waiting for him. Many times during his journey Kevin wondered about Edward's sanity, challenging him to a fight where it was impossible for either to escape. A fight with no cameras, no entrance music, no fans and no McMadds was exactly the sort of thing Kevin longed for, but it still seemed distinctly odd that Edward should wish for such a thing. He was sure that his deranged younger brother's plans would soon be made clear to him, and he considered himself prepared for all possibilities, from an ambush to the whole thing having been one big elaborate lie.

Kevin had hoped he could have collected his mask, and since the ironmonger had not worked on his armour, it unfortunately still bore the damage inflicted on it by Fargo's claws. But it was reassuring to have it with him regardless, and so Kevin ignored the dull and damaged appearance of his trademark wrestling gear.

Upon arriving in Tokyo it did not take Kevin long to complete the last lap of his journey to the dismal remains of the old DMP hideout. As he drew nearer to his destination, Kevin silently hoped that his brother had not just played another stupid trick on him. It was late evening by the time Kevin reached the main entrance to the hideout, and although it ought to have been too dark to see inside the caves, flickering lights informed Kevin that somebody had already preceded him inside and lit the flame torches along the walls.

Kevin followed the line of light to the ring of death, the name the students of the DMP had given to the training ring they used due it usually being the death of at least one Chojin a day, fragments of old, almost entirely forgotten, memories passing through his mind as he walked. The caves were deathly silent, which came as somewhat of a surprise to Kevin, who had expected to hear traces of what he was heading for as he travelled; but Kevin's eyes located what awaited him before his ears did as he quietly stepped into a large opening within the belly of the mountainside, the ring of death surrounded by torches, the largest of which had been mounted onto the corner-posts, just as they used to be during Kevin's time with the DMP.

Kevin slowed to a halt then, carefully shifting his eyes from side to side. Although the lit torches and prepared ring was indicative that Edward was ready and waiting for him, Kevin could not see or hear any sign of his brother or Amy. He had partially expected an ambush of some sorts, and so, tensing himself in preparation of a surprise attack, Kevin continued to the ring, stepping up onto the ring apron and taking one last look around the rocky hollow before stepping through the lines of barbed wire and into the appropriately named ring of death.

Kevin slowly paced the length of the ring and back again before the sound of muted footsteps reached his ears. The slight echo inside the cave distorted the true direction of their origin, but Kevin soon located Edward walking towards the ring, dressed in faded blue jeans and a DMP T-shirt with the sleeves torn off. Edward was not wearing his mask, and the blank expression on his face almost made him seem normal, making his resemblance to Alice Mask all the stronger.

"You got here fast," Edward commented flatly, stopping a short way from the ring and folding his arms over his chest.

Kevin started to look about himself again, but suddenly noticed something amiss on Edward's face.

"What happened to you?" he asked, pointing at his brother as he spoke.

Edward visibly faltered, looking a little more like his old self as a look of childish embarrassment passed over his features.

"Nothing," he recovered, adopting a scowl that lost some of its effectiveness in his current state.

"Looks like you got what you deserve," Kevin commented casually. "Who did it to you?"

Edward inhaled sharply through his nose, unfolding his arms to touch a hand to the bruise around his right eye, his face contorting angrily.

"Never mind that now," he said firmly, starting towards the ring. "The important thing is that you are here, and you are here alone."

Kevin looked about himself again before turning his attention back to Edward as he climbed into the ring.

"Where's Amy?" Kevin asked him as he straightened up inside the ring.

Edward grinned darkly.

"Really Kevin, you're no better than our father!" he snorted. "He just missed being great because he let our mother be his weakness."

"Lucky for you that he did, or else you never would have been born," Kevin pointed out. "Where's Amy?"

"I'm surprised that you do care Kevin," Edward continued, ignoring Kevin's remark. "She's not exactly the sort of girl I pictured you with… Not that I ever pictured you with a girl at all, but I guess I expected you to go for someone a little more like mother."

Kevin twitched involuntarily, missing his mask as he felt his face twist and saw Edward smile at the look he adopted.

"A simpering, homely type," Edward continued, twirling a hand in the air as though trying to work through the correct adjectives in his mind. "A quiet, retiring sort who fawned over you, accepted your lifestyle of "train hard, eat nothing, destroy everyone" and overlooked your bad manners… A loud-mouthed, hot-tempered, hard-headed, gourmet chef who lives with the Kinniku family isn't exactly what I expected of you, brother."

"You presume to know a lot about me, my life, my thoughts and my feelings," Kevin replied coldly. "But if you're going to insist on having this conversation with me, understand that it works both ways: what are you doing with an androgynous, melodramatic fashionista on your arm?"

Edward smirked and cocked an eyebrow at Kevin's words, which was not the response Kevin had been expecting of him.

"Fashionista, eh?" Edward repeated. "Careful there Kevin, you almost sound like you have some concept of modern society, using such a word so freely."

"That probably comes from living with Kiki," Kevin replied. "You remember Kiki? She's Mars's girlfriend."

"Ah yes, Kiki. I had hoped to keep that little ace up my sleeve, but what a disappointment she became. I had hoped that you still had feelings enough for her that my removing her from your group would cause a bigger breakdown between you and Mars."

"There you go with your presumptions again. I have never had feelings for Kiki."

"Your behaviour during the Chojin Crown told a different story."

"What are you talking about now?"

"You couldn't leave her alone."

"I was dragged into the drama of her relationship with Mars – against my will, I might add."

"And the reason you fight is honour, right?"

Kevin narrowed his eyes suspiciously as Edward actually turned his back on him and took a few steps away from him, seemingly perfectly confident to leave himself so exposed.

"I was furious when you joined the DMP Kevin, but that was nothing compared to how it felt to watch you win the Chojin Crown and suddenly assume the role of leader of the Muscle League…" Edward said quietly. "There's an obvious attraction to the path of least resistance though, right Kevin?"

Edward looked back over his shoulder at Kevin, the confident smirk on his face making Kevin suddenly feel a little panicked.

"You always run away Kevin, I'm really surprised you came here today," he added. "And all for the sake of an unpleasant rat of a woman."

"I think you're getting your wires crossed, Eddie," Kevin said sternly. "I have never run from anything. You, on the other hand, have been running and hiding all your life."

"Not really," Edward said, turning away from Kevin again, his stance suggesting utter confidence that he was safe to allow his enemy to remain out-with his sight.

"So humour me," Kevin returned. "Tell me why I'm the coward who runs and hides and you are the strong one here today."

"You ran away at mother's funeral," Edward began slowly. "You ran away when training with dad got too much for you, you ran away with the DMP when you couldn't handle living on the streets any longer, you ran away from the DMP after Mars made you show your true, cowardly, colours, you ran away from the Muscle League when Kid Muscle offered to be your friend, you ran away from your crowning ceremony after the Chojin Crown, you hid away during most of the Chojin Crown, you hid away during most of Kid Muscle's wedding, and you're very noticeably alone in life because you run away from yourself and hide from your own true feelings all the time."

"What?" Kevin grunted.

"I, on the other hand, have never run away from anything," Edward casually continued. "I stayed to watch them drop every last shovelful of earth over mother's coffin, I endured father's training until I was taken to the DMP where I endured Doomsmane and scarface as my tutors for many years, I stayed after the DMP was destroyed and worked hard to rebuild the league of Devil Chojins, I have never been without friends in my life and I just called out the reigning Chojin Crown Champion – who is also allegedly the most lethal and dangerous man on this planet – to challenge him to a no-holds barred, last-man-standing death match. And I'm still here, aren't I?"

Kevin squared his jaw and thinned his eyes, watching Edward carefully as he spun around to face him, the glint in his eye looking disturbingly brighter against the dim lighting inside the cavern.

"That's an interesting opinion you have on the matter," Kevin said. "It's always nice to hear the inner workings of the mind of a madman. Thank you for sharing that with me, Eddie. Now where is Amy?"

Edward's lips peeled back to reveal a grin that made even Kevin feel a little apprehensive.

"She's hanging around," Edward said carefully.

"Define "hanging around"," Kevin growled.

"Well, you know, getting her off of Muscle Planet was surprisingly easy, but once I got her back to Earth, she was a little… Less than cooperative, shall we say?"

Kevin gulped quietly, the smug look on his brother's face doing little to ease his mounting concerns.

"Getting her away from the Kinnikus was simple," Edward continued, pacing across the ring away from Kevin. "I just "borrowed" myself a Kinniku messenger uniform and walked straight into Muscleham Palace. Finding your girl wasn't difficult either: she can be heard a long time before she can be seen. I followed the sound of unnecessary yelling and found the girl with the king and queen of Muscle Planet. Some nonsense about a sampling session or something else equally as mundane and trivial, apparently. I simply announced that old Martha MacLeod had died suddenly, and your girl was virtually begging me to take her back home."

Edward paused tilting his head to one side and studying Kevin thoughtfully for a moment.

"Martha MacLeod is Amy's mother," he explained.

"You killed Amy's mother?" Kevin asked.

"No, it was a lie, I know nothing about Amy's mother other than her name, which I found out with relative ease, thanks to old Mrs. MacLeod's occupation, which has earned her quite the reputation…"

Edward grinned darkly again, and suddenly Kevin began to worry about just what line of work Amy's mother was employed in.

"I revealed my identity to Amy at the palace, but even then it wasn't difficult to get her off of Muscle Planet and back to Earth," Edward continued. "Whereupon I told her of my plans and attempted to take her here to the hideout to put them into action… Which is when the trouble began… But she is still just a girl, and I quickly got what I wanted out of her, including her phone so that I could contact you."

"What have you done to her?" Kevin demanded. "Why can't I see her?"

"Would you like to see her?" Edward asked sweetly.

"Where is she?"

"She's hanging around…"

Kevin marched across the ring to his brother, grabbing handfuls of Edward's DMP T-shirt and leaning into his face.

"Stop wasting my time: where is she?" he snarled.

Edward grinning his malicious grin again and slowly shook his head.

"First, we fight," Edward said. "First I beat you to within an inch of your life and then I will allow you to watch as I kill the girl by the slowest and most painful method I can think of. Then I will come back and finish you off."

"I have a much better idea," Kevin replied. "How about I flatten you and set Amy free?"

"I'd like to see you try…"

Kevin was a little taken aback that his brother was still seemingly brimming with confidence, despite his rapid loss at the hands of the Muscle League the previous month; but Kevin dismissed Edward's egotistical manner as just another mind game, and tightened his hold on Edward's shirt before yanking him up into the air. Edward quickly wrapped his legs around Kevin's waist and hooked an arm around his neck, yanking backwards and pulling them both to the mat, where he slammed Kevin's head into the steel wool. Kevin instantly regretted not having his mask on as his skin burned from the contact.

"You don't get it yet, do you Kevin?" Edward sneered, grinding Kevin's face into the mat as he spoke. "Now I've finally got you right where I want you…"

"You're the one who's mistaken," Kevin replied, his voice muffled against the mat. "Because again you have just grossly underestimated me!"

Kevin drew up his knees and grabbed Edward's shirt, sitting up sharply and hoisting Edward up and over his head, slamming him onto his back. Kevin leapt to his feet and rounded on his opponent, but Edward was up almost as quickly, and the two found themselves face-to-face.

"Touché," Edward said with a smile. "I can see you're going to be a bit of a challenge after all."

"Ditto," Kevin returned. "And I'm glad. A match with no media, no fans, no managers, no friends and no interference is exactly what I've been craving. I can only hope that you are strong enough to at least give me a decent work-out."

"You arrogant bastard, you haven't seen half of what I can do!"

Edward and Kevin pounced at each other, quickly becoming locked together in a test of strength. Perhaps, Kevin thought silently, Edward did have a reason to be so confident after all.

-

* * *

-

"What do you mean "gone"?"

Kid choked and yelped and flapped his arms helplessly in the air. He was unsure how it had happened, but one moment he had been announcing Kevin's last words to the others and the next he had found himself flat on his back on the hall floor, Sprite sat astride him, his tiny hands gripped dangerously tightly around Kid's throat, shaking his head back and forth, smacking it mercilessly against the hard floor.

"Why does everybody leave me, what did I ever do?" Sprite wailed, shaking his arms relentlessly, strangling Kid and battering his head against the floor.

"I still can't believe he took his bike," Trixie sighed. "Kevin may be a little bit DMP sometimes, but it's not like him to totally ignore the law like that."

"Hey it's okay, I got it covered," Mars announced as he rejoined the group gathered around watching Sprite torture Kid Muscle.

"Oh God Mars, what did you just do?" Roxanne asked, cringing in expectation of a terrible answer to her question.

"I just made sure dat Kev'll come back real soon," Mars replied with a shrug.

"You just called the police, didn't you?" Dik Dik asked, thinning his eyes at Mars.

"Sure," Mars replied. "When dey arrest Kev, I'll just go bail him out."

"Can ya do that over here?" Terry asked, scratching his head and frowning. "I mean, does anybody here actually know how English laws work? Maybe they don't let folks out on bail."

The others all exchanged nervous glances before turning to glower at Mars, who was the picture of innocence, even under the pressure of fifteen pairs of eyes glaring at him accusingly.

"Vot have you done zhis time, boy?" Broken Junior asked with a sigh.

"Hey, when da hell did you get here, old man?" Mars yelped, eying over Jaeger's mentor in alarm.

"Hey, who ate the pizza out the fridge?" a voice called into the hall. "I was gonna have that!"

Mars turned towards the kitchen, his eyes widening as he spotted a shirtless Buffaloman, one hand clutched to a can of beer, the other scratching at his rear-end.

"Hey, what da hell is goin' on here?" Mars demanded.

"I thought we were leaving today!" a teenage girl moaned, walking over the join the group.

"Hey!" Mars protested, pointing at her.

"You said my sisters could come here," Trixie said to him, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Sisters?" Mars repeated. "Sisters? How many do ya got?"

"You really don't want to know…" Kiki muttered to him.

"Right, dat does it!" Mars roared. "Everybody get da fuck outta my house!"

Silence fell in the mansion – even Sprite ceased his attack on Kid Muscle to turn questioningly to Mars.

"Dis ain't funny no more!" Mars added. "Dis place used to be all about peace and tranquillity, and you bastards are ruinin' it!"

"Isn't that really hypocritical?" Trixie snapped. "You invited us here, and you moved yourself and all your crap in here just because Kevin let you join the Muscle League!"

"Yeah Mars," Roxanne added. "Kevin hates people, but even he never told us to get out like you just did!"

"You've all out-stayed your welcome!" Mars retaliated.

"So have we, but that hasn't stopped us squatting here and taking over…" Kiki muttered.

"You ain't helping, sweetheart!" Mars sang.

Kiki sighed, slouching her shoulders in defeat.

"Look, everybody, don't you think it's really bad that we're all staying here?" she asked, looking around the others. "I mean, this is Kevin's house at the end of the day, and he never invited any of us to be here. He doesn't even like any of us, and none of us like him."

"I like Kevin!" Kid called out, holding up a hand from the floor.

"I love Kevin!" Sprite cried.

"Kevin left here in a rage," Kiki continued, ignoring both Kid and Sprite. "And he went out on his bike, and now the police are after him and he could end up in jail! What if the DMP come back, how can you all manage without Kevin?"

"Pretty well," Mars said confidently.

"And besides Kiki, the DMP ain't comin' back!" Terry laughed. "Wasn't you payin' attention? We defeated 'em all, and then their leader done turned on them! They ain't a group no more!"

"Oh yeah!" Kid squealed. "Sweet dude, I never thought of it like that before!"

"You shut-up!" Sprite wailed, slapping Kid weakly over the face. "You wait and see, Edward will bring glory to the DMP again!"

"He ain't bringin' glory to nothin'…" Mars muttered.

Kiki sighed, shaking her head. She quietly left the group, wandering over to the table where the telephone docking station sat, pondering calling the police and reporting Mars's call as a hoax; but as she reached the table, Kiki noticed something odd. There was only one phone line in the mansion, despite its extensive size, but the line did have four handsets, all of which usually remained parked in the docking station in the main hall; but Kiki could only see three of the handsets in their rightful place.

"Mars, did you put the phone back?" she called to Mars.

"Yeah!" he replied, frowning a little. "Sheesh, I thought it was just Kevin who nagged me about dat…"

Kiki nodded, slipping into the sitting room and commencing a search for the missing handset. It seemed odd for it to be missing, as Kevin loathed having any of the handsets off the station – even though the purpose of having four handsets was to allow for keeping one or more handset mobile about the house. As the arguments continued in the main hall – Mars insisting that everyone should leave, the others arguing their case to stay and Sprite battering Kid Muscle – Kiki continued her search through the many rooms of the Mask Estate, rapidly losing the will to continue as she started discovering rooms she had not previously been aware of as she searched.

As Kiki entered the gym, she decided to return for one of the other handsets and use the locator function to find the missing handset, feeling a little foolish for not having thought of doing so sooner. Before she left the gym, Kiki looked about herself, her eyebrows twisting as she took in the damage Kevin had caused in his earlier rampage. There was not a single item in the room unharmed; but despite the carnage around her, Kiki still managed to spot a pile of torn paper a short way ahead of her. Jogging over to it curiously, Kiki gasped as she realised just what it was.

"Kevin…" she moaned, crouching down and turning over the paper fragments to confirm her suspicions. "Oh Kevin, how could you?"

Kiki lifted up the paper she had given Kevin with the numbers for Hiroshi's Hot House and Amy's apartment.

"You really are a heartless jerk, Kevin Mask!" she grumbled, picking up the shreds of Amy's business card. "I guess I was wrong about you…"

Kiki sighed, hurrying back to the main hall, sneaking out a handset and running off again before the others could drag her into their still ongoing battle. She quickly pressed to locator button as she ran, listening carefully for the sound of the missing handset. Kiki explored the entire ground floor before heading upstairs, still hearing no trace of the fourth handset.

"Weird…" she whispered, slowing down as she began to grow tired racing about the extensive old mansion. "Really weird…"

Kiki walked along the upper hallway, ready to end her search when she began to faintly hear the missing handset beeping from a room somewhere far ahead of her and to the right. Kiki sped up again, running down the hall to the apparent source of the noise. But as the handset began to beep clearly in her ears, Kiki skidded to a halt, her conscience screaming at her to stop; the handset appeared to be inside Kevin's bedroom.

Kiki had never gone into Kevin's bedroom, and despite enjoying tormenting him, she would never have dared invade his personal space so; but the insistent beeping of the handset drew her a little closer, her interest peaked as to why Kevin – the one who was so adamant that the handsets be left in their docking station at all times – would leave a handset abandoned in his room.

Kiki glanced about herself nervously before lightly kicking the door, which opened far enough for her to peer inside. A red flashing light drew her attention to the floor, where the handset she sought lay as though it had literally been dropped there without a care. Next to it, Kiki could just make out Kevin's laptop, which was half open and standing on its front edge.

Kiki glanced about herself one last time before slipping into the room, her face growing hot as she considered where she was. Blinkering her eyes with her hands and inwardly telling herself that she was just there to retrieve the missing handset, Kiki dashed over to the fallen items, scooping up the phone and deactivating the locator alarm. She turned to the laptop, tilting her head curiously at it, chewing on her lip as she wondered what she ought to do next.

"Well, I've come this far into the wolf's den…" she muttered, grabbing up the laptop and sitting herself onto the edge of Kevin's bed.

Kiki rested the laptop on her legs, surprised to find that it was switched on, but had gone into sleep mode. Kiki quickly pressed a key, bringing the screen to life, frowning at first as she found herself on a Japanese directory website. Her frown soon turned into a smile as she saw that Kevin had been searching for telephone numbers for Hiroshi's Hot House, High Park Ladies' Club and The Palace; Kevin had decided to track Amy down after all.

"Heh, heh, heh!" Kiki chuckled. "I knew you was a big softy really, Kevvy!"

Kiki's face dropped, her mind silently repeating her own words over and over.

"Oh my God, I sounded just like Mars!" she whispered incredulously.

Kiki laughed, shaking her head at her own silliness. She turned to the recovered handset, clicking through the on-screen menu to bring up a list of recently dialled telephone numbers, her smile turning into a smug grin as she saw several short and recent international calls to Japan appear on the list: Hiroshi's Hot House, High Park Ladies Club, The Palace, a residential number Kiki did not recognise and what looked like a cell phone number. The call to the cell phone number was considerably longer than the others, and so Kiki concluded that Kevin must have found Amy on that number; though why he had chosen to drop his laptop and phone so carelessly to the ground and run off in a rage was still a mystery to her.

Shaking her head, Kiki gathered up the two handsets and the laptop, making her way back down to the main hall, where, much to her chagrin, she found the others still deep in a heated debate. Kiki slipped through them, returning the handsets to their rightful location, turning to see Sprite sobbing pitifully against the wall and Kid carefully rising to his feet. As he caught her eye, Kid smiled sheepishly at Kiki, who returned his gesture.

"Hey Kid…" she said, an idea occurring to her. "Your chef came back to Earth for a funeral, right?"

"That's what dad said," Kid replied, casting a nervous glance at Sprite, who was watching him darkly.

"It's just that I think Kevin went to see her," Kiki explained. "Do you know whereabouts on Earth she's originally from? I don't think she was in Japan, and I know she's not Japanese, I thought maybe she was with her family."

Kid shrugged, picking at his nose.

"I dunno, she was just the chef," Kid replied.

"Ugh!" Sprite groaned, rising to his feet.

Kid swiftly slid to one side, tugging Kiki around to stand between him and Sprite.

"Do you seriously think Kevin went to find that horrid woman with the scars on her face?" he asked Kiki.

"You know Amy too?" Kiki asked him.

"We found out about her during the Chojin Crown," Sprite replied. "Edward stole her diaries so that the McMadds could publish the truth about Kevin and Mars in their books. Why would Kevin go to her?"

"Kevin's in love with her!" Kiki replied with a smile.

Kiki's smile slowly faded as, for the first time since it had begun, the argument behind her dropped into silence. Turning her head, Kiki found all eyes on her.

"Kevin's got a girlfriend?" Trixie yelped.

"Sure, he's got it bad for dat Julie chick," Mars replied.

"Julie?" Roxanne echoed. "Who's Julie?"

"Oh God, not that scar-faced girl who wrote all those things about him in her diary?" Jacqueline asked.

"Yeah sure, dat's da one," Mars agreed.

"Kevin's gone to see her!" Kiki said cheerfully, deciding that since the secret was out, there was no longer any point in trying to hide it. "Only I don't know where she is…"

"She was from Iceland or some shit," Mars said casually.

Kiki quirked an eyebrow at him and he grinned.

"I mean uh… She was Icelandic, sweetheart," he said sweetly.

"She wasn't Icelandic!" Jacqueline argued. "I thought she was English!"

"I thought she was Irish," Sprite offered.

"I thought she was Canadian," Kid said.

Kiki sighed, hanging her head in despair.

"Hey wait, ain't she French?" Mars asked.

"No, not French…" Jacqueline muttered, rubbing her chin in thought. "Maybe American? Mexican? Possibly Spanish, she was dark-haired…"

"French-Canadian?" Kid asked.

"She was Russian!" Mars said, snapping his fingers. "I remember now, she was from Russia! Dat accent, it's so obvious!"

"I thought she had a Dutch accent," Kid muttered.

"You just said you thought she was French-Canadian," Roxanne pointed out.

"Maybe she vas German?" Jaeger offered.

"Nah, she was Polish, or Azeri, or Lithuanian," Mars said. "Her name was Anastasia Bruckner, right?"

"Geez, you guys are hopeless!" Kiki groaned. "Doesn't anybody know anything about this girl? Come on guys, she's Kevin Mask's girlfriend, surely somebody knows something solid about her?"

"Amy MacLeod?"

"Yes!" Kiki squealed, turning to the source of the voice. "Oh!" she yelped as she found herself facing Robin Mask.

"She was Shcottish."

"Scottish, there you go!"

Kiki sighed, shaking her head.

"How hard was that?" she laughed. "So there you go guys: Kevin has gone to Scotland!"

Kiki paused, a sudden rush of dread tingling around her body. She slowly turned to Sprite, who was staring at her, his face deathly white.

"Kevin's girlfriend is Scottish too?" he asked quietly as their eyes met.

"Saint Andrew's Day…" Kiki muttered. "And…"

"Four girls…" Sprite muttered. "And…"

"Amy's the fifth element!" Kiki and Sprite yelled in unison.

"Huh?" Mars grunted.

"Don't you get it?" Kiki wailed, rounding on him. "It's Amy! Amy is the fifth element! Edward got what he wanted by kidnapping the four of us, and now he's come back to get revenge on Kevin by kidnapping girl number five: Amy!"

"Who the hell is Amy?" Trixie asked.

"Kevin's girlfriend, keep up, Trixie!" Roxanne sighed.

"When did Kevin Mask get a girlfriend?" Jacqueline demanded. "Mars told us yesterday that Kevin is a virgin!"

"Shut-up, all of you!" Sprite screamed.

Everyone fell silent, turning to him expectantly.

"If Amy is the fifth element, and Edward did go after her, and he did call out Kevin, don't you see what all of this means?" he growled. "It means that right now, somewhere else in this horrid world, Kevin Mask and Edward Mask are fighting each other to the death! Am I the only one who is terrified right now?"

The others all slid back a step as Sprite began sobbing dramatically again.

"So uh…" Mars began awkwardly. "I guess me callin' da police on Kev wasn't such a good idea, huh?"

"Oh Mars!" Kiki groaned. "What if they arrested Kevin and he couldn't get to Edward and Amy?"

The others all began muttering various thoughts on the matter, before Kid interrupted them.

"We have to find out where they went!" he announced, smacking a fist into his palm. "And we have to go there and show our support for Kevin Mask!"

"When did you get so devoted to the team?" Roxanne asked sceptically, folding her arms over her chest.

"I think it's very important that we go and witness this battle," Kid said, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"I guess we oughta be there for our leader…" Terry muttered thoughtfully.

"Also, this will be such an awesome fight, and none of us are in any danger any more, because now it's just all about Kevin!" Kid added, skipping on the spot in delight. "We get to watch a bloody fight without the fear of getting involved with either of the wrestlers fighting!"

The others sweat-dropped as Kid suddenly began waving miniature Hercules Factory flags and singing a cheerful little ditty in alleged support of Kevin.

"But we don't know where they are!" Wally pointed out.

"And we don't even know where to begin our search," Dik Dik added.

"Aw man, no fair!" Kid said moodily.

"I wonder what they're doing right now?" Roxanne mused.

-

* * *

-

Kevin swung the flaming torch around, stubbing it out against the mat with an angry hiss. He ducked, Edward's foot swinging over his head, before straightening up and swinging his arms around and whacking the extinguished torch against his brother's face, sending him crashing into the barbed wire ropes of the ring, which stabbed into his arms. He hissed angrily, tearing himself from the barbs and grabbing up another torch from another corner-post and swinging it at Kevin, who caught it against his own unlit torch.

"You're bleeding, Kevin," Edward sneered, leaning closer to Kevin.

"So are you, you little shit," Kevin growled back, thrusting himself around and using the weight of his body behind his attack to dislodge the torch from Edward's hands.

The torch flew out of the ring and bounced along the cave floor, hissing angrily against the damp rock. Kevin swung his stick at Edward, but Edward quickly kicked it from Kevin's hand, sending it out the other side of the ring. He lowered himself into a defensive stance, beckoning with both hands for Kevin to advance. Kevin grinned, dragging a hand along his chin to clear the blood that was congealing there.

"Not bad," he said. "But not nearly good enough, either!"

"Good enough is never good enough!" Edward said teasingly.

"Exactly…" Kevin growled, before lunging at his brother.

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** The never-ending showdown continues, as both brothers remember that they are no longer restricted by the rules of the IWF, and take the fight to another level. Meanwhile, a growing crowd head out in search of the warring siblings to witness their epic battle.**Chapter 29 – Mask Versus Mask**.


	29. Mask Versus Mask

**A/N:** Emo, emo, emo! LOLZ, i r da queen of emo-dramaz!!! (Just making sure I'm doing everything that I hate: emo (check), melodrama (check) and text speak (check).)

Edward kinda quotes more of _Power Struggle_ by Sunna, and Kiki quotes _Smoke Gets in Your Eyes_ by The Platters (and various others).

**Recap:** Edward challenged Kevin to an all-out brawl at the old DMP headquarters which Kevin accepted. After explaining his motives and how he had abducted Amy as bait, Edward began to fight with Kevin. The Muscle Leaguers figured out what was going on, but couldn't figure out where the two brothers had gone to settle their dispute.

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 29 – Mask Versus Mask**

Kevin grabbed a handful of Edward's hair at the back of his head and thrust him towards the tangled corner of the ring, aiming his face at the roll of barbed wire. Edward quickly brought up one leg, stomping his foot onto the wires to halt the move. To Kevin's surprise, Edward then ran up the wires and flipped over, pouncing onto Kevin's back and locking him into a sleeper-hold. Kevin staggered back, growling in frustration.

"You know that was a stupid move," he sneered, turning around and backing into the corner, intent on crushing Edward against the jagged corner of the ring.

Kevin choked as he suddenly found Edward's hold tighter, his angle putting immensely more pressure on Kevin's throat. Looking back as best he could, Kevin saw that Edward had kicked out his legs as they had backed into the corner, lodging his feet against the wires and using them to lean his weight against Kevin's head.

"I know this ring better than anyone, you idiot!" Edward growled into his ear. "I trained in here everyday when I was in the DMP, nobody could beat me in this ring!"

"You never fought me here," Kevin replied, regretting using his voice as he found himself running short of air in his lungs.

"I am going to annihilate you," Edward returned.

"I beg to differ."

Kevin focussed his remaining energy and charged out of the corner, Edward slipping from the wires and hanging like a dead weight from his neck. Kevin continued running diagonally across the ring, scaling the wires at the other side to the very top before leaping into the air and opening himself out into a star formation, falling hard onto his back on the mat, crushing Edward beneath him, who had stubbornly held onto his neck. Kevin wriggled a little, surprised to find that Edward was still clinging to him, albeit it with less conviction. Kevin grabbed a hand at Edward's arm by his shoulder, yelping out in surprise as his fingers below his armour were suddenly clamped by a set of teeth.

"Biting?" Kevin snarled. "Oh please!"

Kevin yanked his hand free from his brother's teeth, but his respite was short-lived as Edward moved his attack to the nape of Kevin's neck, a deep crunching sound resounding around the inside of Kevin's head as Edward bit into him. Kevin gritted his teeth, feeling more sickened by the attack than hurt by it.

"Save the foreplay for your boyfriend," he ground out, placing his hands on the mat behind his hand and kicking up his legs to leap into a handstand.

Flipped himself over, he neatly pulling himself from Edward's teeth and arms. He stomped a foot at his brother's face, but Edward rolled out of the way. Kevin charged at Edward, who kicked at Kevin's head as he neared. Kevin dodged the kick, ducking under Edward's leg and grabbing the wire ropes behind him and jumping up, hooking his legs around Edward's arms.

"What are you–" Edward began, stopping abruptly as Kevin dropped himself over the top rope. "Are you mad?"

Kevin ignored Edward's protests, reaching around to hook Edward's legs, grabbing him into the Royal Stretch and impaling both their bodies into the three barbed wire ropes.

"You fool!" Edward gasped out. "This is a double-edged sword, you're hurting yourself almost as much as you're hurting me!"

"Who said I was hurting?" Kevin returned.

"Don't give me that shit!" Edward rasped. "If you keep this up, we'll both get stuck like this!"

"Only until one of us breaks…" Kevin pointed out.

"Well it won't be me!"

"You didn't last very long in the OLAP…"

"Ha! You don't know what you're up against, brother! Hey Kevin… Is that your blood or mine pooling on the ground?"

-

* * *

-

"I'll bet it's really bloody and violent!"

Terry and Dik Dik exchanged withering looks before turning back to Kid Muscle, who was munching his way through a pizza, his eyes wide and gleaming eagerly.

"Since when were you a fan of bloody and violent wrestling bouts?" Dik Dik asked him cynically.

"Since he found out he can't get involved in any way," Terry answered him.

"Hey Dorothy, did you locate Kevin yet?" Kid asked, turning to Wally's younger sister, who was inexplicably sat at his side, hunched over, her eyes clamped shut, her fingers pressed into her temples.

"When did da walrus clan get here?" Mars asked darkly, eying Dorothy and Mrs Tusket as he spoke.

"Dorothy told Kid she had telepathic powers and that she could use them to locate Kevin," Kiki explained before sighing. "And all because she still has a silly little crush on him…"

Kiki slowly shook her head, but Mars smirked at her words.

"Ya know, I remember not so long ago you had a silly little crush on me…" he said, watching her expectantly.

Kiki looked up at him from the corner of her eye, smirking back at him.

"What are you talking about now?" she asked slyly. "I still do have a silly little crush on you."

"Oh yeah?" Mars responded, his grin widening. "Ya wanna go star-gazin', sweetheart?"

Kiki thinned her eyes in mock anger, but smiled in spite of herself.

"But Mars, it's the middle of the day!" she said innocently.

"I know one heavenly body dat's always visible from da bedroom…" Mars growled.

"Maybe I should get to work extending the telescope for that…" Kiki replied, wiggling an eyebrow at him.

"Ya know what dey say about a ride to Mars," Mars began.

"Are you guys totally just gonna do it right here in the dining room?" Kid interrupted him. "Because Kevin totally told me not to get any bodily fluids on any of his furniture, so you guys should really be careful about what you're doing."

Mars's face dropped.

"Dis game ain't no fun when we got all dese assholes joinin' in," he grumbled.

"And it's no fun when Kevin isn't here to tell us how filthy and depraved we are," Kiki added with a small sigh.

"We gotta get Kev back here," Mars said, turning to Kiki.

Kiki nodded.

"I never thought I would actually say this, but I do miss the days when it was just the three of us living here," she confessed. "Somebody must know where he went."

Mars and Kiki both froze as the doorbell rang, each looking confused.

"I'll get it," Robin Mask offered, starting towards the main door.

Robin returned a short while later with two police officers, upon which Kid suddenly began to look guilty for no apparent reason.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Mars asked, stepping forwards and looking between the officers and Robin curiously.

"We caught your friend speedin' on four speed cameras along the A4," one of the policemen answered. "We found 'is bike parked illegally outside 'Eathrow Airport so it's been towed. Any ideas where Kevin Mask went off to in such an 'urry?"

"The airport?" Kiki asked quietly.

"He must have left the country," Roxanne mused.

"Do you think they went to Scotland?" Kiki asked.

Mars slowly shook his head.

"Not Eddie's style," he replied slowly.

"They're back in Japan somewhere, aren't they?" Dik Dik asked.

"Probably," Mars replied.

"But where?" Kiki wondered aloud.

-

* * *

-

Kevin groaned as he landed on the unforgiving stone floor of the cave, looking up at the ring to see Edward collapsed, facedown, on the mat. Kevin was, he silently admitted, in less than great shape after winding himself and his brother around the barbed wire ring ropes and hanging their combined weight from them. As was inevitable when 650 pounds of superhuman was suspended in the air by only three wires, the wires had eventually snapped from the corner-posts, one by one, dropping the two brothers onto the edge of the ring apron, where they had been forced apart, Edward falling into the ring and Kevin falling to the ground outside. But despite being entirely covered in a slimy layer of sweat and blood, Kevin actually felt quite pleased with himself: he wanted to feel every injury, the pain somehow bringing him an odd sense of relief.

But as Kevin got to his feet, a slight buzz inside his head reminded him that intentionally tearing wounds into his skin was not such a good idea, as too much blood loss would cause him to pass out, and fainting would be a pathetic reason to lose a fight.

Kevin glanced at the ring, checking that Edward was still lying prostrate on the mat before looking about himself for any indication of where Amy might be. At first, it had seemed sensible to just beat Edward into silence and then look for Amy; but the fact that he had not seen or heard any trace of her since his arrival at the old DMP hide-out was beginning to worry Kevin. After all, it was not like Amy to be quiet or invisible in any way.

"If I told you that I changed my mind and just killed her anyway before you got here, would you be very angry Kevin?"

Kevin turned his head sharply, fixing his eyes onto the ring, where Edward had propped himself up onto his hands and knees.

"I know I said I would let you have the pleasure of watching her die, but she really was so irritating and relentless!" Edward continued. "She never stopped talking at me, and most of what she said was just utter rubbish anyway. She wasn't exactly a great wit. She wasn't even pretty. I really don't understand why you were so… "Concerned" about her."

Kevin watched Edward get to his feet, his eyes thinning as he studied his younger brother carefully.

"You're bluffing," he said quietly.

"Hm?" Edward mumbled, lifting his head and smoothing back his hair with one hand.

"You're bluffing, she's here somewhere," Kevin replied.

"Hey!" Edward yelped as Kevin took off running. "I thought you said you weren't going to run away from your problems any more! Some noble knight you are!"

Edward ran to the open side of the ring, leaping to the ground and racing after Kevin; with no real hope of catching him, as Kevin had a sizeable head start and was running far faster than Edward could. Ahead of him, Kevin had already reached the narrow corridor that joined the training area to the heart of the underground cavern, the point where all other sub-caves could be reached by one path or another.

"Get back here!" Edward yelled after him, his voice echoing around the rocky walls.

Kevin did not slow down until he reached the junction of paths, which were numerous and extensive; but in an error typical to his nature, Edward had only bothered to light the corridors that he had been using, and with only one other pathway lit, Kevin knew exactly which way to go. He took off in the direction of the lit corridor, the sound of Edward entering the junction behind him reaching his ears as he started down his chosen path.

Leaping over, ducking under and dodging around irregularities in the rocks that his brain had somehow committed to memory from his DMP days, Kevin made short work of the rocky pathway that opened out onto a plateau high in the interior of the mountain, overlooking the massive opening that had once been The Academy. Kevin skidded to a halt on the stone flat, looking about himself curiously. The Academy below was not lit as he had expected it to be, but it was still brighter than the other unlit sections of cave and intensely hotter thanks to the open pit of lava far below; the same pit of lava Kevin and Mars had so memorably traversed as part of their training.

Kevin slowly stepped up to the edge of the plateau, the air in front of him becoming almost liquid with the heat haze the lava below was creating. Behind him he could hear Edward stumbling aimlessly through the rock tunnel, his unsteady footsteps and angered cursing echoing around the caverns in a way that completely distorted which direction he really was approaching from. Kevin sighed quietly, readying himself to run back and trap Edward in the tunnel; but as he turned his back on The Academy, a faint creak reached Kevin's ears, clearly emanating from the direction of the infamous lava pit. Kevin spun around, looking up in the apparent direction of the sound, squinting as he spotted something hanging from the rocks high above, barely visible from his vantage point against the conflicting and minimal light sources. It looked like nothing more than two ropes wound together, but following them downwards Kevin eventually found why they were moving ever so slightly.

"Amy?" he muttered.

Suspended at the end of the rope above the heart of the lava pit a short distance below the rocky flat Kevin was stood on was a crumpled female figure.

"Amy?" Kevin called out, squinting curiously at the girl hanging below him. "Is that you?"

Kevin tilted his head to one side, all thoughts of Edward and their fight vanishing from his mind. He began to wonder if he had just fallen for another of his younger sibling's idiotic tricks, because the scantily clad, longhaired girl below him was definitely not Amy. Kevin snapped back to his senses as the echoes behind him suddenly died, the sound of Edward's feet clearly coming from just one source. Turning around, Kevin saw his brother leap at him, which seemed positively suicidal, as such a move would only send them both of them to their deaths in the lava pit below. A little too late, Kevin noticed that Edward had grabbed an arm around a spike of rock, his attack suddenly making a lot more sense.

Edward swung right around, kicking Kevin over the edge, swinging himself out over the ledge and back to safety, landing firmly on the flat rock. With no time to consider how sensible a strategy it was, Kevin opened his arms and aimed himself at the rope, hoping to grab onto it to save himself from certain death.

A second later, Kevin collided with the woman hanging on the rope, sending them both swinging wildly back and forth, the ropes creaking angrily.

The sickening sound of Edward laughing reached Kevin's ears, and as he began to spin around, he caught glimpses of his brother standing up on the plateau, his hands on his hips, laughing openly and unashamedly. Kevin sighed, grabbing at the rope by the woman's back and tugging against the movement to steady them both before looking down at her, the realisation of what he was doing finally dawning on him.

"Um…" he began nervously, suddenly painfully aware that his legs were wrapped around the girl's waist and he was literally sitting on her lower back and she was wearing possibly the shortest dress Kevin had ever encountered. "Sorry…"

"I'm getting accustomed to it," she answered tightly. "I've spent the last few days surrounded by idiocy, this is nothing, trust me."

"Amy?" Kevin asked, her voice sounding alarmingly like that of the outspoken chef.

"No, it's Warsman, I'm using my "damsel in distress" disguise, I figured it would make a nice change from that Lord Flash lark…" she sarcastically replied. "Who the hell did you think I was?"

She turned her head, looking back over her shoulder at Kevin, who saw only a pair of angry eyes watching him through a mass of dark hair. Kevin carefully reached a hand towards her shoulder, lifting back her hair to uncover the rest of her face, the angered scowl and distinctive scars informing him that he had just located Amy MacLeod herself.

"But you look like a slut," he said, shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

"It was intentional!" Amy snapped back, her eyes looking all the brighter against her particularly dark and heavy make-up. "Scarlet mini-dress, red stilettos and whorish make-up: who the hell dresses like this to go to a funeral?"

Kevin shook his head.

"Exactly!" Amy ground out. "I dressed like this because I had hoped that somebody on Muscle Planet would get suspicious and stop that selfish prick from taking me away from my kitchen! But of course, I was making the assumption that the Kinnikus are a smart race!"

"Oh I see," Kevin said quietly, nodding his head. "Well, bigger fool you."

"Thanks Kevin, that's really helpful," Amy grumbled, turning away from him. "I've been hanging here with no food or water for over a day, and in this heat, I'm about ready to die… I've already thrown up three times from dehydration, I've got a migraine, I want to kill your brother, and now I've got your gigantic weight attached to me… Tis the season to be jolly…"

"Well, you haven't lost your sense of humour, so it's not all bad," Kevin tried.

"I'm about to have a major sense of humour failure… Kevin why did you come through here knowing that this pit of lava was here? That was really stupid of you, you almost fell in and died!"

"I came looking for you. You are never grateful when I help you out of an undignified situation!"

"For the record, dressed as a whore and bound in rope in this position was more dignified than the situation you have just put me into: dressed as a whore, bound in rope in this position with you mounted on me!"

Kevin winced, looking about himself as he tried to consider his options for getting out of his predicament as quickly as possible.

"You were dressed provocatively the last time I saved you from thugs," he pointed out.

"That was… Irrelevant…" Amy grumbled.

"I just thought that it was ironic."

"Indeed. I suppose the key difference this time around is that I threw my shoes at Edward instead of you."

Kevin glanced over his shoulder at Edward, who was still laughing, despite the fact that it was starting to sound forced and false.

"You gave him that black eye?" Kevin asked Amy.

"Yes," Amy confirmed. "Although since we are having this discussion, your brother gave me back my shoes, which was more than you did."

"You threw your shoes at me from three hundred yards away."

"Three hundred yards? Oh please! I wasn't even three hundred centimetres from you!"

"Did you want me to go after you and return your shoes?"

"It might have been nice! Like Cinderella!"

"What?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot who I was talking to."

"Is that some sort of mating ritual for your people? Throw your shoes at a man and if he brings them back to you then he is a suitable lover?"

"Don't try to be funny, it doesn't suit you, Shouben Mask!"

"You've definitely been around those Kinnikus too long. Maybe you should consider coming back to Earth."

"I'm finished with Japan, too many bad memories."

"Maybe the other side of Earth…"

"What, South Africa?"

Kevin sighed.

"Never mind," he groaned. "Let's just try to think of–"

Kevin stopped abruptly as he suddenly found himself falling again, a piercing scream from Amy almost deafening him. A second later his body jarred to a halt, and looking up, he found that one of the ropes holding Amy in place had snapped and was hanging loosely at her side; and unfortunately, it was the rope that had been tied around her waist.

Kevin had his arms around Amy's waist, his entire weight suspended from her body; and Amy was only held in place by a rope around her neck.

"Amy?" Kevin asked nervously, suddenly frantic that he was still behind her and could not see her face. "Amy, talk to me!"

Kevin hesitated, a cold rush of fear passing over him. If the jolt of the fall had not broken her neck and killed her, the force of his weight pulling her down was certain to strangle her to death.

"Amy!" he cried, pulling himself up in an attempt to check on her condition.

But Kevin was suddenly pulled harshly downwards, a weight catching around his legs and pulling both him and Amy hard enough to make the one remaining rope groan loudly from the strain. Kevin looked down at his knees, his eyes growing wide at what he saw.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" he spat out angrily. "You'll kill us all! You were safe up there, why the hell did you jump over here?"

Edward grinned darkly up at Kevin, apparently so mentally warped that he no longer cared if they all fell into the lava and boiled alive.

"Not quite the end I was planning, but I'm still quite pleased with how this has turned out," Edward replied, his tone disturbingly calm as the rope creaked and groaned above them.

"We're all going to die, you do realise that?" Kevin asked him.

"I won't die," Edward confidently replied. "I will rise like a phoenix from the flames, and I will live on after you are gone. I was made to fly, Kevin, but you were just meant to die."

"You won't be flying anywhere other than around the nine circles of hell, you twisted little fool!"

"I'm defeating you Kevin, admit it. I've just defeated your heart, your mind, and pretty soon, I will defeat your body. I always promised myself that I would destroy you, and now my dreams are finally coming true!"

Edward began to laugh again, and Kevin found himself struggling to maintain his focus. He was sweating profusely against the searing heat of the lava below them, rivulets of sweat trickling over his body, carrying blood and dirt with them and making his grip a lot less certain. Something was going to give very soon – either Kevin's hold or the rope – and either circumstance would result in Kevin falling to his death. A sense of hopelessness began to creep into his mind, and despite trying desperately to remember that allowing Edward to defeat his mind would allow Edward to take his life, Kevin began to lose the will the fight.

"K.."

Kevin frowned, looking down at Edward, who was still laughing like a maniac.

"Ke… Kev…"

Kevin's head snapped up, his eyes locking onto the back of Amy's head.

"You… You can… Get… Out of this… Only you…"

Kevin frowned at her, shaking his head despite the fact that she would not be able to see his actions.

"Kick Eddie off… And climb up…"

Kevin opened his mouth to protest, glancing back and forth between the bubbling, angry lava below and the point in the rocks the rope was suspended from. Kevin paused, his mind showing him that Amy was in fact right: escape was possible for him. He could kick Edward down to the lava below and climb up the rope behind Amy. He would only have to climb a short way before reaching the second rope that had broken, which he could jump across to and climb to safety before the rope Amy was attached to snapped.

Survival was entirely possible for Kevin Mask, but the fates of Edward and Amy appeared to have already been decided.

-

* * *

-

The desperate shouts and cries of his fellow Muscle Leaguers and the other group of people who had attached themselves to them had finally faded from Mars's ears. He had known Edward Mask long enough to know that if the information they had gathered so far was correct, Kevin was in grave danger. Edward was insane; and that was a point Mars was beginning to think that he should have invested a lot more effort into impressing upon the others. It was all a giant trap, from which Kevin was certain to become caught in, the cost of escape being his life.

Mars was angry with himself for not having taken Kevin's sudden departure more seriously, and he was angry for not realising much, much sooner where Edward would have lured Kevin to; after all, it was so obvious. Edward loved a dramatic showdown, and what better place for the final fight between the brothers to take place? Edward had spoken about it so many times to Mars during their days at the DMP, all the years they had passed together, Edward had mentioned it time and time again.

But, Mars thought bitterly, he had never, ever taken the crazed rants of a silly, immature boy seriously, and now his best friend's life was at stake. In the days when Edward had spoken of his plans to kill off Kevin and Robin Mask, Mars had never cared for anyone, and never expected to. And now that he did care, now that he did understand the camaraderie of a good friend, he had forgotten the vital information he needed to save Kevin's life.

Mars began to slow his relentless sprint as his destination came into view. The crevasse ahead of him was legendary in Edward's eyes, as it was the place where one member of the Mask family had very nearly met his doom. Edward had always been fascinated with the place it was so glaringly obvious that he would choose it as the platform to take Kevin's life.

But as Mars neared the steep drop, he found himself surrounded by silence and completely alone. He slowly approached the very edge of the ravine, peering over the edge into its depths, gulping audibly at the thought of Kevin having already plummeted to his death.

"Kev…" he said faintly.

"Mars!"

Mars sighed, less than surprised to hear Terry Kenyon shouting after him. Terry was usually the fastest runner of the group, but Mars had leapt out of the taxi he had been taking from the airport as it had became caught in a traffic jam and the wait had made him explode with emotion, giving him a massive head-start on the others.

"Hey, there ain't nobody here!" Terry said breathlessly as he slowed to a halt at Mars's side. "Ya don't reckon…"

Terry slowly peered over the edge.

"We're too late," Mars said darkly.

"Mars! Terry!" Jaeger called as he caught up with them. "Vot's happening?"

"There ain't nobody here, Jaeger," Terry said solemnly. "We can't even see where the fight mighta taken place… Looks like we were way too late."

Jaeger gasped, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Dik Dik asked as he joined them.

"Look, I ain't gonna stand here all night repeatin' dis over and over to every asshole who takes too long to get up here!" Mars roared angrily. "Kevin Mask is dead, okay? Edward killed Kevin, and probably killed himself too, in a death match right here over dis ravine!"

"What about the bodies?" Trixie asked, jumping off of knight-form Checkmate's back along with Roxanne, Jacqueline, Kiki, Marie and Meat.

"Trixie!" Roxanne snapped, slapping her arm.

"Well, it's a good point!" Trixie sneered.

"You really wanna see da bodies?" Mars asked her in a dangerously low voice. "You really wanna see da mangled mess dey would be in?"

"Oh come on!" Trixie argued. "Robin Mask survived when he fell down the Grand Canyon! Maybe Kevin survived too!"

Mars slowly shook his head.

"I'm gettin' outta here," he grumbled.

Mars marched back away from the one time location of an epic match between King Muscle and Robin Mask over the Grand Canyon, shoving Kid Muscle to the ground as he joined the group and inadvertently stepped in front of Mars. Kiki watched Mars pass her, chewing at her lip and frowning in concern.

"Mars!" she cried after a short hesitation, running after him. "Mars wait!"

Mars kept walking, but Kiki ran as fast as her considerably shorter legs would carry her and caught up to him, running around to block his path, stretching her arms out at her sides and glaring up at him sternly.

"Not now sweetheart," he said quietly.

"I was worried that something like this might happen," Kiki replied. "When I saw you freaking out on the flight over here, I knew it would be bad… I didn't catch the same taxi as you because I went back to buy something in the airport. I thought you might need it."

Mars tilted his head curiously, snorting out a bitter laugh as Kiki produced a packet of cigarettes from her bag.

"I know you like to smoke when you're seriously upset, and…"

Kiki licked her lips nervously, her eyes lowering to the box in her hand.

"I'd rather you smoked these," she finished quietly.

Mars nodded his head, taking the cigarettes from her and moving over to a large rock nearby, sitting down onto it as he opened the packet. Kiki silently sat down next to him, searching through her bag for something. Mars bit onto a cigarette, lifting up one of his coat-tails and striking it against the rock, setting it alight. Kiki held out a lighter toward him, her jaw dropping as she watched him light the cigarette with his own flaming coat-tail. Mars smiled at her, stubbing out the small flame and taking a long draw on the cigarette.

"This is just so…" Kiki sighed. "Unexpected…"

Mars frowned at her as she plucked a cigarette from the packet, placing it between her lips and flicking the lighter at it.

"Babe, you don't smoke," he said gently.

"I figured now was a good time to start," Kiki dryly replied.

Mars quirked an eyebrow as she sucked at the cigarette for the first time, almost immediately sending herself into a violent choking fit. Mars took the cigarette from her and stubbed it out, shaking his head.

"I just can't believe he's really gone!" Kiki said weakly, turning to Mars.

Mars studied her face carefully, unsure it her red cheeks and tearful eyes were from a result of her coughing fit or if she was mourning Kevin's death.

"It's a dangerous job dat we do, sweetheart," he said gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his chest. "We gamble our lives every time we step into da ring. If we live past thirty, we've been lucky."

"Oh Mars, don't say that!" Kiki pleaded, thumping a fist against his chest. "I can't even handle losing Kevin, I would be a complete wreck if anything bad ever happened to you!"

"Yeah…"

Kiki sighed, tilting her head back to look up at Mars, gasping lightly as a tear fell from Mars's jaw and landed on her cheek. She reached up a hand to Mars's cheek, wiping away the wet line on his face.

"Damn cigarettes," he said quietly, his voice slightly uneven. "See what dey do? Da smoke is gettin' in my eyes."

Kiki sniffled a little before gently kissing Mars's chin. She rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at the darkening sky, a few faint stars already visible. Curls of smoke danced in front of her eyes and her vision began to blur again through uncried tears.

"Tears I cannot hide," she sang softly. "So I smile and say, when a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes."

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** And on and on it goes… With their lives all in the balance, things aren't looking great for Kevin, Edward or Amy, and Kevin finds himself battling with his conscience as matters of the mind start to conflict with matters of the heart. The Muscle League return to London to break the news to Robin Mask, but when they arrive back a surprise awaits them. **Chapter 30 – Oh Brother**.


	30. Oh Brother

**A/N:** More emo than you can shake a stick at! I write, therefore I emo!

**Recap:** Kevin found Amy, but in doing so put her life, his own life and even Edward's life in danger, as all three ended up hanging from a rope above a lava pit. Meanwhile Mars led the Muscle League to the Grand Canyon, where he had assumed he would find the warring brothers, but when he failed to locate them, he reported them as dead to the others.

And that was where I left you all "hanging"…

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 30 – Oh Brother**

"I'll never let go. You'll die with me clinging to your charred corpse!"

Kevin growled, gritting his teeth in frustration. Edward had both arms locked around the backs of his knees, rendering his legs entirely useless, and his arms were still clung around Amy and the only thing holding him in the air, leaving him completely defenceless.

"Edward, let's be serious, for just a moment," Kevin said in a level voice, hoping to appeal to his brother's sense of survival if nothing else. "If we fall, we will all die. On the other hand, you and I could climb up this rope and continue our battle on solid ground. Wouldn't that make more sense? Isn't this a bit of a jaded victory for you? Wouldn't you rather beat me fairly, rather than relying on the laws of physics? What happened to your big plan to finish me in the ring of death?"

Edward's face twitched, and Kevin began to think that he had finally touched a nerve, finally reached the one remaining sane part of Edward's warped mind; but Kevin's hope was short-lived as Edward suddenly swung his legs back and then kicked them violently forwards. Kevin tightened his grip desperately on Amy as they all began swinging back and forth. Edward continued to kick back and forth, swinging them in an increasingly wider arc, the rope groaning angrily above them, the rising pitch of the creaking ringing alarm bells in Kevin's mind.

"Edward, stop it!" he yelled. "You're rubbing the rope against rock, it's snapping!"

"All part…" Edward said between kicks. "Of my masterplan!"

Edward swung forwards one last time, the rope jerking downwards slightly as the fibres far above them began breaking and unravelling. Edward opened his arms suddenly, and Kevin watched in alarm as he fell forwards with the momentum of the swing, landing safely on his feet a good distance from the edge of the pool of lava.

"I will defeat you," he sang up at Kevin.

Kevin growled at him angrily before looking up in time to see the last strand of rope break. Looking down, Kevin saw that the angle he was falling at did not bode well for him, and as Amy had gone limp in his arms, he forced himself to remember the mantra of a perfect Chojin that Doomsmane had drilled into him, and he leapt away from Amy, saving himself, landing next to his brother. Kevin turned his head to Edward, who was standing with his mouth hanging open in a clownish grin, his eyes sparkling in delight.

"You let her cook!" he said, before laughing at his own sick joke.

Kevin tilted his head, watching his brother wordlessly until he stopped laughing. Edward's smile slowly faded as he found Kevin staring at him emotionlessly.

"It wasn't very honourable of you," he said sulkily. "I thought you were all about honour and glory."

"I am," Kevin quietly replied.

Edward's face dropped into an expression of unbidden shock as Kevin lifted his arms and cocked a smirk at him.

"I couldn't take her with me, the angle was too steep for me to fully support her all the way to the ground and she could have died on impact against the rock," Kevin explained. "But you were stupid enough to overdo her restraint with far, far too much rope."

Edward growled, thinning his eyes at the length of rope wound around Kevin's arms.

"She's already dead anyway!" he spat venomously. "She hung to death!"

"She deserves a proper burial," Kevin bitterly replied, marching up to Edward.

"How touching," Edward sneered.

"Excuse me for just a moment, won't you?" Kevin said, before kicking his foot as hard as he could into Edward's crotch.

Edward let out a pitiful whimper and doubled over, the distraction allowing Kevin the opportunity to safely approach the edge of the lava pit and pull the rope back up, recovering Amy's limp body. He carefully gathered her up into his arms and carried her to an alcove at the back of the cave, an area the Devil Chojins had once used to cool down after training thanks to its sheltered location. Kevin lay her down on the ground, his mind going blank as her body sprawled lifelessly against the rock at his feet.

"I'm so sorry Amy…" he whispered, he face twitching against his will, his eyebrows drawing together tightly.

"Sorry?" Edward choked out, staggering into the alcove behind Kevin. "You're sorry? You ought to be! After all, it's all your fault that the miserable wretch had to die! What sort of Justice Chojin are you anyway Kevin? "Leader of the Muscle League"? More like Loser of the Muscle League! Isn't it your job to protect the weak? You couldn't even save one pitiful, silly, worthless girl, you're no leader, you're not even a man!"

Kevin rose to his feet, drawing in a deep breath, the odd sense of calm once more filling him as his body began to radiate pure energy, a golden light illuminating the small hollow they were stood in.

"Pfft!" Edward snorted. "That's nothing: I have Maelstrom power too!"

"You don't have anything!" Kevin roared, rounding on him and flooring him with a punch to the face.

Kevin began stomping on Edward's chest and head, not allowing him any margin for escape, continuing his attacks until he could barely make out Edward's face through the blood he had drawn. He then reached down and grabbed Edward's T-shirt in both hands, dragging him to his feet.

"Get up and fight me you dishonourable rat!" he snarled.

Edward made a small gasp before grabbing at his sides and pulling outwards. Kevin frowned in confusion, but Edward's actions soon became clear as he tore his T-shirt from his body, stumbling back from Kevin, who was left clutching shreds of the DMP shirt.

"I will defeat you," Edward said, before spitting a mouthful of blood to the ground.

"You don't look like a winner to me, Eddie," Kevin said darkly, tossing aside the remains of Edward's T-shirt. "You look like a miserable, whining, loser."

Kevin stomped up to Edward, who kicked him in the gut and shuffled back, lowering himself into a defensive stance expectant of Kevin's rebuttal. Kevin touched a hand to the point where Edward had kicked him, once more deriving an odd sense of release from the pain he felt. Lifting his eyes and quickly checking his environment, Kevin saw something that he suspected Edward had forgotten about; or else he had just not considered that Kevin might actually use it to his advantage.

"I will defeat you," Edward said again.

"I don't care," Kevin said quietly. "I don't care what you do, I never have. I don't care that you still resent our father, I don't care that you are still in love with Mars, I don't care that you are still DMP, I don't care that you kidnapped those four silly girls, I don't care that you held that stupid tournament and I don't care that you lured me out here to fight you like this. I don't even care if you do defeat me."

"Yeah, right!" Edward scoffed.

"But it really, really pisses me off that you hurt my girl."

Edward paused, his confusion evident even through the mess of blood, hair and dirt covering most of his face.

"And that's why I will defeat you," Kevin added quietly.

Edward let out an angry snarl before running at Kevin and punching him in the jaw, his head snapping back from the force of the blow. Edward aimed a second jab at his brother's face but his fist smacked hard into the armour on Kevin's forearm, his knuckles cracking and his fingers going limp. Kevin lowered his arm again and Edward looked down at his hand, his face twisting when he saw that he had quite clearly just broken his fingers, the middle two looking almost completely obliterated.

"I warned you: no more games," Kevin said darkly.

Edward leapt back as Kevin grabbed at him.

"Playtime is over," Kevin warned him.

Edward punched his good hand at Kevin, but Kevin slapped the blow aside with his armoured forearm, kicking Edward in the gut, sending him staggering further back. Kevin grabbed at Edward with both arms, but again Edward leapt back out of his reach.

"You're not nearly as smart as you think you are, Edward," Kevin said. "I heard you follow me through the tunnel, and I studied how you moved around the ring of death. You don't remember this place as well I do, little brother, and you're arrogance is about to cost you your life."

"What are talking about now?" Edward retaliated. "Nobody knows this place better then I do!"

"Then explain how I can do this," Kevin hissed.

Kevin leapt forwards, closing the gap between them and grabbing a hand around Edward's throat. He then thrust his arm forwards, pushing Edward back. He allowed himself to smile at the panicked look on Edward's face as his feet suddenly left the ground, his weight jarring against Kevin's hand. Edward quickly gripped his hands at Kevin's arm, one hand failing him as his broken fingers refused to grab on. Edward looked over his shoulder, yelping quietly as he caught sight of the bubbling lava beneath him.

"Misjudged the distance, didn't you?" Kevin sneered. "Schoolboy error, but then again, I didn't honestly expect any better from you."

"You can't do this," Edward choked out.

"What, drop you into the lava like you tried to do to me and Amy less than five minutes ago?" Kevin asked.

"You won't do this."

"I think I might actually."

"You can't."

Kevin twisted his face into a malicious grin worthy of Edward himself.

"Oh no…" he drawled sarcastically. "My hand is slipping…"

Kevin lessened his grip slightly, the sweat and blood from them both making Edward's neck slip against his hold.

"You can't do this to me, Kevin!" Edward cried desperately.

"Give me one good reason why not," Kevin replied. "Go on Edward, humour me. For old time's sake."

Edward gulped, but a flicker of a smile appeared on his panic-stricken face.

"You won't do it because you still love me," he said shakily. "It doesn't matter about anything else that either of us have ever done or said, I know you, I know how your mind works, and I know that you still think of me as your baby brother. You still love me as your brother, you still love me as the one person alive who shares your blood, you still love me as the man who reminds you of our mother, and your conscience will kill you if you let me die after you promised mummy that you would look after me."

Kevin faltered and Edward's smile firmed on his face.

"You sentimental fool…" he laughed. "You really are no better than father, always letting your emotions stand in the way of your own greatness… How disappointing."

Kevin stepped back from the edge of the pit and slowly lowered Edward to the ground before opening his fingers. Edward laughed as Kevin retracted his hand, staring blankly back at him.

"I don't know why you're laughing," Kevin said quietly. "I never said that I wasn't going to kill you, I just didn't think that dropping you down there was a fitting end for you. A little too quick and painless for my liking, I believe that the punishment should fit the crime."

"What?" Edward echoed.

"This isn't over yet," Kevin added. "Don't forget: I'm not a noble man like daddy, I'm a nasty bastard."

-

* * *

-

"Maybe he'll come back as Mr Barracuda, just like Mr Robin Mask did!"

"Kid, shut the hell up!"

Kid cowered back as Roxanne glowered at him angrily.

"Kid, I know you're tryin' to be optimistic, but Kevin Mask is gone," Terry said gently. "And we all agreed on the flight back that you oughta be the one to tell Robin Mask about his boys."

"What?" Kid wailed.

"Well, I'm certainly not about to tell him that both of his sons are dead…" Dik Dik grumbled.

"But why me?" Kid cried.

"Because you vere in ze toilet vhen ve voted," Jaeger replied."

"But that wasn't fair!" Kid protested. "I couldn't vote when I was in the toilet, could I?"

"Kid, you were in the crapper the whole flight back!" Roxanne pointed out.

"Hey, cut dat out!" Mars barked at them.

"Hey Mars, does this mean you're the new leader of the Muscle League?" Kid asked.

Mars paused, his eyes widening and his expression drooping.

"I… I guess so, yeah," he said softly.

"Oh wow…" Kid said, nodding his head.

Mars frowned as Kid's face suddenly distorted.

"Oh my God, he's really gone, isn't he?" he wailed. "Kevin, why? Why Kevin, why?"

"Ah, geez…" Mars groaned as Kid flopped against him, grabbing onto him and sobbing openly.

"I think you guys should all find a hotel for tonight," Kiki suggested. "Mars and I will go back to the Mask Estate and tell Robin Mask, Warsman and Sprite what has happened."

"Kiki, are you sure you'll be alright?" Roxanne asked, touching a hand to her shoulder.

Kiki nodded.

"I know he was thoughtless jerk, and I didn't really see eye-to-eye with him, but…"

Kiki slowly stopped, her eyes blurring again.

"C'mon sweetheart, we gotta a lot to sort out yet, and we both need to get some sleep," Mars said to Kiki as he shoved Kid from himself.

Kiki nodded, slipping her hand into Mars's and allowing him to guide her to a nearby taxi.

"How can we even begin to tell poor Mr Mask?" Kiki asked as they sat into the taxi.

"Let me handle it," Mars assured her.

"Oh Mars, it must be really hard for you, he was your best friend!" Kiki sighed, grabbing Mars into a hug. "I'll talk to Mr Mask, you should get some sleep."

"I wanna do dis," Mars insisted. "If it had been da other way around, I'da wanted Kev to tell my old man himself."

"Mars, please, don't keep saying things like that!" Kiki begged.

Mars wanted to tell Kiki that he was merely stating fact, that the mortality rate of a Chojin was exceptionally high; but her pained sobs combined with his own mounting emotions made him stop. Instead he gently stroked Kiki's hair and turned his head from her, watching out the widow as the taxi followed the road back to the Mask Estate. Just like Kiki, Mars had no idea how to even begin telling Robin that his eldest son was dead, and possibly his youngest too, especially considering how they had reached their untimely ends.

Mars sighed, finding himself watching the grounds of the Mask Estate pass by through the car window far too quickly for his own liking. He paid the taxi driver and dragged Kiki from the car, guiding her to the steps leading up the main entrance of the impressive mansion.

"Well, here goes…" he muttered, hurrying up the steps.

Kiki slowly followed him, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. Mars grabbed the door handle and yanked back, starting in alarm as he found the door to be locked.

"What gives?" he muttered. "Hey, open up!" he yelled, banging on the door with a fist.

"Mars look at this!" Kiki said suddenly.

Mars turned to see her pick up a note from the bench next to the door, her eyes flicking through the contents, her eyes watering and her chin quivering at what she read.

"What is it, babe?" Mars asked.

"It's from Mr Mask," Kiki said, lifting her eyes to Mars and smiling despite the tears slipping from her eyes. "He says the police traced Kevin's passport through the airport, and they found out that he flew to Tokyo. Mr Mask, Warsman and Sprite have gone to Tokyo to find him… We were wrong, they didn't go to the Grand Canyon they went back to Japan!"

Kiki turned the note around to show Mars, who read through it to confirm that Kiki had not become delirious and made some silly mistake interpreting what she had read.

"Tokyo…" he mused aloud. "Where da hell in Tokyo would Eddie wanna fight Kev?"

Kiki shrugged.

"Somewhere he felt confident?" she tried.

Mars brightened, grabbing Kiki's shoulders and kissing her forcefully on the lips.

"Ow…" she moaned as he pulled back from her.

"You're a fuckin' genius, sweetheart!" Mars declared.

"Excuse me?" Kiki echoed, frowning up at Mars in confusion.

"Oh sorry sweetheart, I was just a little, ya know…" Mars apologised. "But you're right! Someplace he feels confident: Da Academy!"

"Da what?" Kiki asked.

"The Academy," Mars replied in a posh voice.

"I still don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't need to. Call everybody else, we gotta get back to da airport."

"But the taxi left already, and if Mr Mask and the others are gone, they must have taken the car with them."

"Dey took a car wid dem, but dere are two cars in da garage. Dey got dat horrible tank Robin Mask likes to drive, and dey gotta Bentley…"

Kiki smiled, shaking her head at Mars.

"You wouldn't," she said.

"What can I say," Mars said with a shrug. "It's an emergency!"

Mars ran over to the garage, punching the button to open the door as Kiki began dialling Roxanne's number, slowly following after Mars. Mars rubbed his hands together in delight as the door slowly opened, the glint of metal within making him grin with glee.

"I thought Bentleys were good quality cars," Kiki said, tilting her head to one side as a large, box-like vehicle came into view.

"Ah damn it…" Mars grumbled. "Robin took da Bentley…"

-

* * *

-

"Admit it… You can't do it… You don't have what it takes."

Kevin closed his eyes focussing his energy on holding Edward in the Tower Bridge.

"Go on…" Edward continued to taunt him. "Tell me it's… Just the heat… Making your hands slip again."

It was unbearably hot standing by the lava pit, supporting his brother's weight on his shoulders; and Kevin's lack of sleep, food and water lately, along with the blood loss he had suffered were all combining to make his task all the more trying.

"Nothing I can't handle," Kevin grunted.

"He ain't heavy, he's my brother," Edward snorted.

Kevin's eyes opened a little at Edward's words, a childhood memory suddenly becoming vividly clear in his mind. He doubted Edward would remember (him having been barely three years old at the time), but Kevin could still recall the day the Mask family had attended a royal wedding and Edward had screamed through the ceremony and consequently slept through the evening, ending with Kevin carrying him back to the guest room they were staying in.

"Careful Kevin, don't drop him," he heard his mother say.

"It's good training for him," Robin had answered her.

"I can manage, I'm strong," nine year old Kevin had insisted.

Alice had laughed, turning to Robin and singing "he ain't heavy, he's my brother".

Kevin smiled in spite of himself, an ironic snort of amusement escaping him as he then remembered which Royal had been marrying that day: Prince Edward!

"You're losing it, Kevin," Edward sneered, the sound of his very adult voice bringing Kevin back to the present day with a sickening jolt of reality.

Tensing himself, Kevin wound his arms further around Edward and stretched him further back, a small crack reaching his ears, a groan vibrating through Edward's chest by the back of Kevin's head. Kevin closed his eyes again, trying to ignore the slightly too clear memory of his mother's face looking down at him in concern, her soft voice echoing around his mind "careful Kevin, don't drop him". Of course, Kevin thought to himself, he had no intention of dropping his brother right at that precise moment in time; but he was hurting Edward, which was something he had promised his mother that he would never do.

Kevin still missed Alice. He tried not to think too much about his late mother, other than to respect the idea that she had been nothing less than a perfect maternal figure in the precious time he had shared with her; but sometimes his mind would betray him and begin replaying specific intimate moments he had shared with his mother who, unlike his father, had always been kind, loving and devoted to him and his best interests. And for some unknown and yet most distressing reason, Kevin's brain was going through one of those phases as he tried to finish his war against his brother once and for all.

Silly, irrelevant things began haunting his mind, making him wonder if his blood loss was more severe than he had allowed for, making him delirious. He remembered the time his mother had told him that she could no longer pick him up for a hug because he was too heavy and she had hurt her back carrying him. He remembered crying about it until his father had thrown a book at him and told him to stop. He remembered his mother coming home from the hospital with baby Edward, and for perhaps the first time he realised that he had been driven mad with jealousy when Edward arrived in his life: six year old Kevin was jealous that his mum spent all her time with the baby or sleeping because the baby had kept her awake all night, he was jealous that the baby did not have to wear a big iron mask like he did, jealous that the baby was not subjected to Robin Mask's regime of strict physical and mental exercise, and jealous that the baby was allowed to eat chocolate pudding after dinner.

Kevin remembered the many, many fights he had with Edward once Edward had grown up a little and begun wearing his mask and training with their father. Most often they fought over typical, pointless, childish things; but on occasions they were encouraged to spar violently by their father, which would inevitably upset their mother, resulting in the entire family separating to their own parts of the Mask Estate, and sometimes going days without speaking to one another. Thinking back on his childish outlook at the time, Kevin began to feel selfish, neglectful and filled with regret, remembering all the times he had refused to talk to Alice because he was sure that she was siding with Edward over him, all the wasted hours, days and probably even weeks when he had been blissfully ignorant to the fact that his time with his mother was to be short and precious and every moment should have been treasured.

Alice Mask hated it when her sons fought, which was exactly why she had asked Kevin to look after Edward. She had only asked that one thing of Kevin. She had given him everything, and only asked for one thing in return, and Kevin had failed her.

"You could have ended this by now…" Edward's voice cut into his thoughts. "What's the matter with you, Kevin?"

Kevin growled, pulling down further and drawing out a series of louder cracks from Edward's back, making him cry out in pain. Edward's taunts suddenly reminded Kevin of something: Edward was not bad because Kevin had not supported him, he was bad because he had made his own choice to be bad. Edward could have left the DMP at any time, he could have joined Kevin, Mars and Checkmate and escaped, but he had chosen to stay on the dark side, chosen to remain even after the faction was wiped out by Sunshine, chosen to attempt to rebuild the DMP and he had even started up his own stupid group of immoral fools, The Anarchists. Kevin had not let Alice down, Edward had. Kevin had nothing to feel guilty about, because all the blame for Edward's behaviour lay with Edward himself. He had made one stupid decision after another in his life, all of which had led him to where he was now, facing death at Kevin's hands.

But perhaps, Kevin thought to himself, he and Edward were not so dissimilar as it seemed. Edward had always been more openly affectionate with their mother than Kevin had, and he had been devastated when she died, despite him claiming otherwise after joining the DMP. Unlike Kevin, Edward had shed tears for their mother, he had visited her grave regularly and he had faithfully gone to church everyday to pray for her. Remembering this, Kevin suddenly began to wonder what had changed to turn the good and loving Edward into the vile viper that he was now.

Kevin pulled a little harder, drawing a cry from his brother that actually made his chest hurt to listen to. It sounded as though Edward was actually crying in pain, a sound that did not bring the pleasure Kevin had expected it to, rather it left him feeling physically sick and mentally torn as he tried to justify that Edward's cruelty could not be forgiven on the basis of him having once been a young boy Kevin had shared a home, parents and some good memories with.

But equally, Kevin began to wonder how he could accuse Edward of being wrong in any of his seemingly bad life choices; after all, had they not both made the same decisions in their teenage years? Both had decided to rebel against Robin Mask, both had befriended Mars, both had joined the DMP, both had challenged the Muscle League and both had ultimately failed. Both had suffered the pain of losing their much beloved mother, and both had endured Robin's strict upbringing. Both had fought with and learned from the Legends of the DMP; both brothers had walked the same path in life, a path of darkness paved with uncertainty.

Kevin yanked harder at his brother, the cracking sounds suddenly changing in tone, the noise that emitted from Edward's throat jarring Kevin's senses. Despite his mother's voice warning him to be gentle and begging him to look after his younger brother inside his mind, the sound of Lord Flash's voice urging him to show no mercy was slightly clearer, the taunt of his father telling him "good enough is never good enough", the thought of Mars doubting his ability to lead the Muscle League and the idea that Edward had still conducted himself without honour throughout the last few months over-riding any obligation Kevin felt to protect his only brother from reality any longer.

"K-Kevin…"

Kevin's eyes opened, his body stiffening at the sound of Edward's feeble voice.

"I've just broken your back," Kevin told him flatly. "Any more pressure, and the damage will move to your vital organs, which is sure to kill you, by one means or another."

Edward snorted an almost amused snort, but followed it with a small, boyish whimper that threatened to invoke yet more memories that would force Kevin to question his actions.

"Well fuck me," Edward whimpered quietly. "You really are a nasty bastard."

Kevin closed his eyes again, all of his thoughts suddenly disappearing to leave him with one lasting question of conscience: could he really kill his brother?

Kevin felt a wetness trickling down one side of his face, and he told himself it was just sweat, just his body reacting to the heat and the strain of sustaining the Tower Bridge for such a prolonged amount of time. After all, Edward was right: he was a nasty bastard, and he had been incapable of crying over anything since his mother's death.

With a broken back, Edward's wrestling days were clearly over, and so what was to happen next could only be one of two simple things: either Kevin had to drop Edward and leave him in the hope that his injury would humble him to pursue a more dignified way of life, or Kevin had to pull harder and tear his brother apart, ending his life.

Kevin still did not know what he wanted to do, but he had only tightened his hold since first locking it on, and so he suspected that he had already accepted, deep down in his subconscious, that he would have to kill his brother.

A few seconds later, Kevin found himself on the ground on his back, Edward lying limply at his side. Rolling onto his side as blood began to flood his mouth, Kevin coughed ungraciously, touching his fingers to his nose, which was suddenly throbbing and bleeding profusely. Shifting his eyes to one side, Kevin saw a pair of amber eyes glaring at him.

"Kevin I love you, but I couldn't let you kill my Edward."

Kevin turned to look at Edward, who, for all intents and purposes, actually looked dead anyway.

"How did you get here?" Kevin asked, dragging himself to his feet.

"Your father took me here," Sprite replied, pointing over his shoulder.

Kevin lifted his eyes, looking beyond Sprite, finding Warsman by the alcove he had left Amy in. Kevin started towards him but stopped after just three steps as Robin stepped out of the alcove and into the light, Amy's lifeless form lying limply in his arms. Kevin clenched his teeth tightly together, angered to find that he had almost forgotten about Amy during the closing moments of his confrontation with Edward, and seeing her again suddenly brought a tightness to his chest that hurt so badly he struggled to breathe against it.

It was over.

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** With Kevin's war against Edward over, all that remains is for him to return to the Mask Estate and hope for a peaceful life; but of course, this is a Lucretia D fic, so that's not about to happen. **Chapter 31 – My Angel**.

**A/N(2):** Okay, the bit with the chocolate pudding was written very late one night and seemed poignant at the time. At proof read, it seemed hilarious and totally _non sequitur_, so I decided to just leave it in anyway for shits and giggles.

Oh, how i r emo…

PS thanks muchly to all who have reviewed, you guys are awesome!


	31. My Angel

**A/N:** I am writing these next two chapters according to my 2005 storyboard – and by that I mean I am reverting to more flurry-arsed Disney shite, even though writing the previous two chapters made me want to continue with a major angsty ending, with Kevin buggering off into the sunset on his bike. I think the emo ending would probably have worked better, but I guess I have the soul of a Disney writer, because here comes the limp-wristed sappiness.

**Recap:** The battle between Kevin and Edward ended when Sprite broke them apart before Kevin could kill Edward, but not before he broke Edward's back.

-

* * *

-

**Chapter 31 – My Angel**

"Edward?" Sprite said, dropping to his knees at Edward's side.

Kevin turned his head, watching as Sprite gently lifted Edward's head onto his lap and smoothed his hair from his face.

"Edward, say something, please," Sprite said softly.

Edward made a small grunt, his head twitching, informing Kevin that the tenacious little bastard had survived after all.

"I'm here for you, my love," Sprite said sweetly.

Edward's eyes flickered open a little and he looked up at Sprite, his eyes glazed over as though he was not really conscious.

"My angel…" he whispered, before slowly closing his eyes again with a sigh.

Sprite smiled, turning to Kevin.

"And you're my angel Kevin, for not killing him," he whispered.

"I was going to kill him, but you kicked me in the nose and made me lose my balance, which broke my hold," Kevin grumbled, before glancing back at Robin, who was still holding onto Amy. "And I'm nobody's angel. At least, not any more I'm not…"

Kevin sighed, pushing his hair back from his face and dragging his feet, both of which suddenly felt unreasonably heavy despite him being liberated from supporting his brother's immense weight on his shoulders, in the direction of his father.

"You did the right thing, Kevin," Robin said to him as he approached.

"No I didn't," Kevin answered bitterly. "You're wrong now, and you were wrong the last time I fought Edward. I didn't do the right thing then either. I should have killed him at the Kyushu Oil Dome. Edward was right. Edward. Not you, not me, but Edward."

Kevin glared at his father, almost hoping for an argument, if only as an excuse to release the tension in his chest that refused to ease.

"I'm shorry that you feel that way Kevin," Robin instead said. "But I do think that you did the right thing."

Kevin looked down at Amy, clenching his teeth together until his head began to ache.

"Well I don't, but it's too late for regrets now," he concluded.

Robin nodded his head. Kevin turned his back on his father, no longer able to look at him or Amy; but he then found himself looking back at Sprite fussing over Edward, which made him feel almost as sick, so Kevin instead turned to an unlit corridor that he knew would lead him back outside and took off down it without a backward glance.

The last thing he needed was to hear Edward accuse him of running away again.

-

* * *

-

Kevin tensed as a soldier marched briskly into his hospital room. He had been pleased to be given a private room within the hospital and not to be stuck in a ward full of sick people; but he had also insisted on no visitors, a rule that appeared to have worked, as he had not seen a single person other than the doctors and nurses who came to check on him from time to time.

Until now, he thought darkly. The soldier was unrecognised, unwelcome, and carrying a worryingly large bouquet of mauve daisies, the very sight of which made Kevin hope that his bedpan was close to hand, as he suspected he may very soon need it to vomit into.

"Kevin Mask."

Kevin started, his bed squeaking beneath him as his entire body jolted. The soldier was a woman?

"I came to give you this and to say thank you," she said, her voice barely more feminine than her decidedly manly appearance. "For all you did for my Amelia."

"What?" Kevin muttered, leaning away from the flowers she was pushing into his face. "I don't know what you're talking about. Please go away, and take your flowers with you."

"You are Kevin Mask, right?" the solider asked, pulling the flowers back a little.

"Yes," Kevin warily replied.

"And you did know my girl, Amelia MacLeod, right?"

Kevin hesitated, the idea that Amy was in fact the diminutive form of the name Amelia slowly clicking into place inside his head. He tried to stop his mind from picturing Amy dressed as an early 20th Century pilot as he automatically associated the name Amelia with the ill-fated pilot Amelia Earhart.

"I knew Amy, yes," Kevin eventually answered the soldier. "I still don't understand why that means you are here, especially when I specifically said that I didn't want any visitors."

"Your father said you were a bit of a moody arsehole, but I felt the need to come and see you anyway," the soldier replied, nodding her head. "It broke my heart when Amelia moved to Japan, I didn't think she would actually go, and she didn't exactly stay in touch. I had no idea what she'd been through with the DMP and all that other crap she's been involved in until your father contacted me."

Kevin narrowed his eyes sceptically.

"My father contacted you?" he asked darkly. "And he told you to come and visit me, when I asked for no visitors, and to bring me flowers, despite me being allergic to them?"

"Oh shit, sorry pal!" the soldier hurriedly said, flinging the flowers out of the room and closing the door.

Kevin watched her wash her hands at the nearby sink, still feeling no more enlightened as to who she was or what she was doing in his room.

"Amelia meant the world to me," she said as she dried her hands. "I was shocked that she didn't stay to join the family business, I was shocked when she moved to Japan, and I didn't even know that she was living and working on another planet."

Kevin stared up at the decidedly androgynous woman standing over him, a sickening idea slowly dawning on him.

"Are you a lesbian?" he asked, not caring how rude he sounded.

"Well, yeah," she replied with a shrug.

"Fantastic," Kevin said with a nod of his head. "Thank you very much for coming in here, infecting me with flowers, talking at me about nothing, and ruining my memories of Amy."

Kevin sighed, sinking lower in his bed, silently wondering if he ought to sign himself out of hospital that day, in case Amy's apparent ex-girlfriend began attracting more riff-raff in to visit him. Kevin also decided that his father was an unforgivable arse, since he had obviously sent the woman in as some sort of consolation to Kevin: he had lost Amy, but even if she had survived, he never could have had her anyway, since she had apparently preferred women.

"I'm really sorry about the flowers, I had no idea, I swear," Amy's girlfriend insisted. "I just wanted to thank you for looking out for my Amelia. She was always getting herself into trouble with that big mouth of hers, and sometimes I think she thought she was invincible. Back home, we all had bets on about when and how her exploits would get her into serious trouble. We were really happy to find out about you, to find out that somebody was watching her back, like her guardian angel, I guess."

Kevin turned to her, quirking an eyebrow at her upon hearing her refer to him as Amy's angel, a memory of Amy that had always made him smile, even though he would never have openly admitted as much to anyone.

"She always looked out for me, but that changed after she took losing her dad so hard," the solider continued. "Amelia ran away from home and we never really heard from her again. My mum actually, literally, had a stroke when she saw the state Amelia was in when we got here."

"Can you please stop calling her Amelia?" Kevin asked.

"But that's her name."

"Her name is Amy."

The girl shrugged.

"If that's what she calls herself now then sure, why not?" she agreed. "Anyway, I know you didn't want anyone in here visiting you, and I really only came to thank you for all you've done for my girl, looking out for her and fighting for her the way you did. So thanks Kevin. And sorry again about the flowers."

The soldier stood up and saluted Kevin before turning and marching from the room. Kevin watched her go before shaking his head and sighing.

"Well that was absurd and unpleasant," he grumbled, unhooking himself from the machines attached to his arms and chest that were monitoring his condition. "And another good reason for me to get the hell out of this place right now."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, Mister?"

Kevin froze, his eyes locking onto the short, slender young woman suddenly stood at his bed-side, her green eyes flashing angrily, her long emerald hair swept up loosely, her face a little pink with the force of her rage. Kevin sighed slowly, his hand hovering over the tubes inserted into his nostrils as he pondered what he ought to do next.

"For once in your life Kevin Mask, sit back and relax!" Kiki insisted.

"Shouldn't you be…" Kevin began, waving his hand in front of the tubes as he tried to think of an alternate place she ought to be. "With Mars?" he tried.

"You said no visitors, but when we saw Victoria coming in here, we decided to come and see you too," Kiki replied.

"What?" Kevin muttered.

"Hey asshole," Mars greeted him as he stepped into the room, his hands gently resting on Kiki's shoulders.

Kevin watched numbly as Kiki tilted her back against Mars's chest, smiling up at him sweetly. Mars looked down at her with that same gentle look that Kevin had never seen on Mars's face until the day he had revealed Mars's true identity during his match against Kid Muscle during the Generation Ex Tournament.

"Hey buddy, we thought we lost you."

Kevin's hand dropped to the bed and his face twisted involuntarily as he suddenly found Mars looking at him with almost the same sappy look he usually reserved for Kiki.

"Excuse me?" Kevin echoed.

"Oh Kevin, it was awful!" Kiki gasped, crawling onto his bed.

Kevin shuffled back from her until his hip collided with the bedside cabinet leaving him cornered as Kiki knelt on the bed at his side, watching him curiously.

"We thought Edward had taken you to the Grand Canyon," she explained. "To re-enact the fight between your father and King Muscle. We all flew out there, and when we couldn't find you, we thought that you…"

Kevin grunted out an animalistic sound of curiosity as Kiki's large eyes suddenly became glassed over with tears, her bottom lip quivering pitifully.

"Oh Kevin, I tore up the list, I promise!" she whimpered.

"What?" Kevin echoed, feeling even more confused than when Amy's lover had been talking at him about irrelevant nonsense.

"Hey buddy, ya had us all real worried," Mars sat softly, sitting down next to Kiki, bending one leg up onto the bed and turning himself to face Kevin. "We thought we lost you."

"You have lost me…" Kevin grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I've got no idea what you idiots are yapping on about now…"

"We thought you was gone, Kev," Mars explained, his face becoming uncharacteristically solemn. "I didn't think I was ever gonna hear you call me horrid arse-biscuit again."

"You are a horrid arse-biscuit," Kevin darkly replied. "Especially so if you thought for even one second that that miserable little brother of mine could actually stand up to me in a one-on-one confrontation! How dare you underestimate me like that?"

Kevin felt a sense of dread slowly creep over him as he watched Kiki and Mars stare at him silently, their faces flickering between smiling and looking on the point of tears.

"It's so good to have you back!" Kiki said quietly, before lunging forwards and landing in his lap, her arms around his waist.

Kevin stiffened, grabbing at the cabinet behind him as he tried to distance himself from her.

"It is good to have ya back, Mask!" Mars agreed, crawling onto the bed towards Kevin.

"Oh for f…" Kevin muttered, trying to detach Kiki from himself.

Before Kevin could succeed, Mars grabbed onto him, and he suddenly found himself sandwiched between the duo, struggling for air and pained from the strain of clenching every muscle in his wounded body.

"I knew you could be romantic!" Kiki said suddenly, leaning back from Kevin to look up into his face.

"I could what?" Kevin asked her.

"The way you took off on your bike and flew to the other side of the world to save you woman you love! It was so romantic!"

"It wasn't romantic…" Kevin muttered.

"Yeah, I'm real sorry I called da cops on ya, buddy," Mars added, his voice a little too close to Kevin's ear for his liking.

"You what?" he asked, leaning away from Mars a little and watching him from the corner of his eye.

"Mars called the police after you left," Kiki said with a sigh. "They tracked your movements, and they towed away your bike because you parked it illegally at the airport. I'm sorry Kevin!"

Kevin opened his mouth to argue the point, but as Mars squeezed him a little tighter and a tear slipped from Kiki's eye, his suddenly lost the will to fight any more than he already had of late.

"It's fine," he instead said. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, we asked everybody to leave, so it'll just be us back in London," Mars said. "And you know Kev… Well, maybe you don't wanna talk about dis right now, especially after GI Ho just left–"

"Mars!" Kiki snapped.

"Sorry babe," he hurriedly apologised. "It's just dat… Well, about Amy–"

"You were right the first time Mars, I don't want to talk about this," Kevin said hurriedly, reaching his hand up over Mars's forearm to pluck the tubes from his nose.

"Kevin, don't do that!" Kiki said, frowning up at him with a look of genuine concern, which surprised him.

"I know you ain't ever gonna hear her voice again–"

"Mars, shut the fuck up!" Kevin snapped irritably. "I already told you: I do not want to talk about this! Don't ever mention that girl around me again, you hear?"

"Kevin, don't be like that!" Kiki begged.

"Get away from me, both of you!"

Kevin began struggling against Mars's hold, a little alarmed to find that Mars's hug suddenly turned into a form of choke-hold, and the more he struggled, the more ensnared he became.

"What do you people want with me?" he growled, ceasing his struggle. "I fought to free the girls, and I made sure that Edward won't ever bother any of us again. I don't owe any of you anything any more, now let me go and leave me alone."

"Kevin, don't say that!" Kiki said moodily, sitting back onto her knees and folding her arms over her chest. "Don't pretend that you fought The Anarchists just because you were owe us something! And don't act like that's the only reason you have people around you. Mars doesn't just stay with you because he owes you for letting him into the Muscle League or whatever it is that your silly little brain thinks it is, Mars stay with you because you're his friend. You have a lot of friends Kevin, and a lot of people who really care about you, you just never take the time to appreciate them. You're just lucky that Mars is always there to remind us what a great guy you are underneath all your moodiness."

Kevin turned his head as best he could in Mars's direction, barely making him out from the corner of his eye.

"I thought you conspired to take my place as leader of the Muscle League behind my back?" he asked.

"I say dumb things when I'm mad," Mars flatly replied. "You ought know dat better'n anybody."

Kevin sighed, slouching in Mars's hold, which he was relieved to find his friend then loosened.

"It was so close, but it's all going to be okay now," Kiki said, gently patting at Kevin's thigh through the bed sheets.

Kevin looked down at her hand, his mind suddenly going blank, the tightness he had felt in his chest after his fight with Edward suddenly returning. As he fought to breathe, Kevin began to wonder if perhaps he was having a heart attack, his throat tightening painfully; but as his eyes began to tingle, he suddenly realised exactly what was wrong with him.

Kevin dipped his head, shading his eyes with one hand and allowing his hair to fall around his face.

"We'll get through dis, buddy," Mars insisted. "We're here for you, yeah?"

Kevin tried to swallow, but found that doing so only made him quiver, the pain in his throat worsening.

"Please go," he muttered into his chest. "Please just go, and leave me alone."

Kiki looked up at Mars with a look of worry, but he slowly nodded his head.

"Let's just go sweetheart," he said gently. "Kev'll talk when he's ready to."

Mars slowly stood up, gently patting Kevin on the back before taking Kiki's hand and leading her out of the room. Once the door had closed behind them, Kevin lifted his head, pushing back his hair and slowly drawing in a deep breath.

He had not cried over his mother's death, he told himself, and so he would not cry over losing Amy.

-

* * *

-

Kevin was awoken suddenly and rudely as something landed hard on his gut, and a second later, began licking his face.

"Ugh," he groaned, reaching up his hands and grabbing onto something furry. "Get off of me!"

Kevin opened his eyes, suddenly wide-awake as he found himself looking up at the drooped face of an English Cocker Spaniel. Kevin was holding the dog by its front legs, but it was still trying to stretch its neck down to continue slurping at his face, its tail wagging incessantly. Looking about himself, Kevin was even more alarmed to see that he was back in his bedroom at the Mask Estate, as he had been for the past two days, which made the dog's presence all the more unusual.

"There you are, Precious!" a voice called into Kevin's room.

"Precious?" Kevin muttered, sitting up abruptly and pushing the dog off of himself where it promptly walked around his back and made itself comfortable on his pillows.

"Oh I'm awfully sorry, did my wee Precious wake you up, son?"

Kevin pulled a face at the middle-aged woman loitering by the end of his bed wearing a headband with felt reindeer antlers attached to it and loosely supporting a frightening long cigarette between her pink-taloned fingers.

"And you would be?" Kevin asked, trying to remain tactful.

"Oh son, I hope you don't mind, your father invited us to come and stay here over Christmas, and it seemed like an awful nice idea, under the circumstances, you know," the woman replied.

Kevin narrowed his eyes, the woman's voice referring to him as "son" echoing painfully around his head as he slowly came to the sickening conclusion that this miserable hag stood before him was apparently his father's latest girlfriend.

"I don't allow pets in my house," Kevin said stiffly. "Or smoking."

The woman frowned at him curiously, before slowly nodding her head.

"The girls did tell me that you were a bit of a grumpy one," she said. "But I've got something that might cheer you up, son."

"Stop calling me son," Kevin growled, before yelping out a noise of confusion and anger as the woman squeezed one of her antlers and they suddenly began flashing with small coloured lights, an irritating Christmas jingle emanating from them.

"Isn't that hilarious?" she asked, pointing at her head.

"Isn't it though? In fact, its almost as amusing as inheriting your dream home and having it turned into a nightmare by a steady stream of unwelcome visitors setting up camp within it," Kevin flatly replied. "Get out of my room, and take your little dog with you."

The woman nodded, but her unsubtle roll of her eyes did not go unnoticed by Kevin.

"C'mon Precious!" she called, before turning to the door and disappearing from Kevin's sight.

The dog leapt down from behind Kevin and trotted out of the room after the strange woman, leaving Kevin feeling confused and more tired than when he had first gone to bed. Deciding that, no matter how tired he felt, he could not sleep whilst his father and a woman seeking to be his step-mother were present in his home, Kevin shoved his sheets aside and stepped out of his bed, yawning and stretching his arms above his head before making his way out of his room. He was wearing nothing more than his boxer shorts, but saw no need to bother with anything else, and as he caught the wild erratic appearance of his bed-swept hair, which seemed to be even longer than he remembered it to be, in a mirror on the hall wall, Kevin decided that his unpleasant and dishevelled appearance might actually act as a good deterrent to drive away all his unwanted houseguests.

Deciding to start at the top, Kevin pushed his way into Mars and Kiki's bedroom, surprised to find it empty, all evidence of the pair having ever lived there suddenly vanished.

"Odd…" Kevin muttered, heading for the staircase and slowly thumping his way down the steps, the sound of voices in the main sitting room informing him that he would shortly find some people to repulse and offend.

Trudging into the room in question, Kevin stopped short by the doorway, looking around the group of four people sat there, a frown darkening his face.

"Kevin, you're up!" his father greeted him.

"Perhaps you should have put on some clothes before you came down to meet our guests, Kevin," Warsman added.

Kevin looked down at his feet as the fluffy little dog sat in front of him, staring up at him, its tail sweeping against the carpet cheerfully.

"What's going on here?" he asked, lifting his head and looking directly at his father, who he had already decided was to blame for the confusion around him.

"I told your friendsh they ought to go home," Robin explained. "And we all thought we might shtay here through the New Year, to help you with your recovery."

"I am recovered," Kevin moodily replied. "In fact, there was no recovery, because I was fine to begin with. And I certainly don't want you and your dog-loving smoker girlfriend living here and pissing me off."

Kevin ignored the shocked look the cigarette-wielding woman gave him upon the reference.

"Aw Kevin, son, I'm not your father's girlfriend!" she said gently. "I'm the girls' mother."

The woman pointed at the figure sat next to Warsman on the sofa, and turning to her, Kevin found her to be vaguely familiar, although he still did not wish to have any of the four of them in his house.

"Hello again, Kevin," the girl by Warsman greeted him.

"So this is it, is it?" Kevin asked flatly. "The Muscle League and their associated idiots have left, and now I have my father, Warsman, this old woman and that other woman living with me."

"Kevin, do you remember what I told you about talking to women?" Robin asked quietly. "Remember to be polite."

"It's okay, we don't mind," the girl by Warsman said to Robin. "We're just grateful that he was there for our Amelia."

Kevin's face dropped as he suddenly recognised the short-haired, square-jawed woman sat on his sofa: it was that army girl who had visited him in hospital, Amy's apparent girlfriend.

"Well this is shit," Kevin grumbled, turning his back on them and walking out of the room. "My father, my fake mentor, Amy's girlfriend, and Amy's girlfriend's mother…" he grumbled as he walked down the hallway. "What a fantastic combination. And infinitely preferable to Mars, Kiki, Kid Muscle et al."

Kevin walked around to the back part of the mansion, locating the small room that overlooked the back garden, the one his mother had liked best and the one he had often found peace in when Mars and Kiki had lived with him. An idea had grown in his mind that he wanted to shut himself into the room, light the fire and fall asleep on the large, puffy sofa there, and perhaps when he next awoke he would find himself in a more pleasant situation; hopefully entirely alone.

As Kevin reached the door to the room, he found it half-open, which immediately seemed odd to him, as it was usually left closed. Slowing a little as images of Kiki and her giggling female friends sitting around the fireplace composing lists of ways to ruin his life began to manifest in his tired brain, Kevin carefully peered into the room, preparing himself for what he considered to be the most shocking thing he could find, and yet still finding himself suddenly frozen in surprise and what he did actually see within the room.

Kevin did not believe in supernatural nonsense – despite having learned that his brother was literally sharing his life with a fairy – the concept of ghosts having never seemed logical to him. After all, the house he had been brought up in had belonged to the Mask family for countless generations, and most of the previous owners had died within the mansion itself, and yet the place had never played host to spirits of the dead.

But Kevin found himself looking at something that seemed very much like a ghost to him. Sitting in his favourite spot – in his mother's favourite spot – on the window ledge of the large window directly in front of him was a woman wrapped in a long white robe, the hood pulled up over her head, only her hands and feet visible between the folds of material. Infrequent patches of sunlight were seeping into the room as clouds passed over the sky, making her almost seem to glow against the light. Kevin wanted to walk into the room and demand who she was, as the logical part of his mind told him that she was just another irritating, uninvited, unwanted and unwelcome houseguest; but something within Kevin was stopping him, an odd sensation that did not settle well within the pit of his stomach.

As Kevin was trying to come to a decision about what to do – whether he ought to approach her or just turn around and leave since she was obviously an illusion – she suddenly twitched a little, a small, pitiful, dry cough sounding from her, one of her hands moving to her hooded face. And to Kevin's own dismay, as she made the sound, he actually yelped out a noise of surprise himself, which made her straighten a little before slowly turning her head to look back over her shoulder at him, her face suitably obscured beneath her hood and against the sunlight.

"There you are," she said, her voice hoarse and uneven. "My angel."

Kevin squinted at her curiously, creeping into the room and cautiously approaching her. Part of him felt ridiculous for almost being afraid of one little slip of a girl when he fought giant monstrous beings for a living, but her presence still seemed distinctly out of place. He stopped by her side, frowning down at her. She did not lift her head to look up at him, and so she was still hidden from his view. Losing a little of his patience, Kevin put a hand onto the top of her head and pushed back, shoving the hood down around her neck, finding a pair of eyes staring at him with a slight sense of irritation.

"You okay?" she asked, her voice no less pitiful and strained.

Kevin paused, his face working through a variety of expressions as he tried to decide his next best course of action. After a few seconds of debating the matter in his mind, Kevin reached out a hand and pinched her cheek, making her cry out a ragged squeal and push his hand away.

"What did you do that for?" she squawked, scowling up at him but still not really looking up directly at him.

"I had to check that I wasn't imagining you," Kevin told her.

"You're supposed to pinch yourself!" she snapped, her conviction lost in the abrasive sound of her weak voice.

A second later Kevin found himself thumping down onto the window-ledge facing her, his hands grabbed at his crotch as a sharp pain brought him back to reality.

"You're a dick," the girl grumbled, pulling her hood up around her head. "Any doubts about reality now?"

"Hey," Kevin began, wincing a little. "What gives you the right to come into my house and punch me in the… Y'know…"

"I didn't ask to be here," she croaked. "Your father called my mother, and she took me back here because she started freaking out about my face. I haven't seen my family in years, they didn't know I had these scars and they certainly didn't know I was associated with you IWF idiots."

"I'm not an IWF idiot!" Kevin protested.

"You're the leader of the Muscle League, that makes you the biggest IWF idiot."

"Pff! Yeah, well, you're name's Amelia."

"Yeah, and your middle name is Horace, so bite me."

"What?"

Kevin glared at the girl sat opposite him as she smirked from beneath the shadow of her hood.

"When I get my voice back, I'm going to call Kiki," she said slyly. "So that she can add that to her list."

Kevin growled, his hands suddenly shaking; which seemed odd, because Kiki knowing that his middle name was Horace did not really anger him enough to draw out such a reaction. An odd buzzing feeling began throbbing in his chest and his head, and he was forced to release a long, deep sigh as he found his entire body shaking against his will.

"Kevin, if it bothers you that much, I won't tell a soul."

"I don't care about that. I'm just… I'm glad."

"You're glad? With a name like Horace, you ought to be seriously less than glad. Still, I suppose it could be worse. It could be Horatio, now that would be really funny. Apart from anything else, imagine the rhyming games you could play with a name like Horatio."

"Amy…"

"What?"

Kevin stared blankly at her as she turned her head towards him, smiling a little at their eyes met. She lifted back her hood, and from where he sat, Kevin could see faint bruising around her neck. She laughed a little, though the sound was compressed with her apparently affected voice.

"Oh come on Kevin, you didn't honestly think that you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" she joked. "It's the craziest thing, a few seconds longer and I probably would have died up there. As it is, the worst that happened was some bruising and I lost my voice. But it's coming back, so too bad for you."

Kevin opened his mouth to answer her, but all that came out was a series of weak little noises he was ashamed to admit to having made.

"I'm glad you're here, I think you're the only sane person left in this crazy old house," Amy continued. "Your father is a little eccentric, Warsman is… A little bizarre, and I've never liked my own family."

Kevin slid from the window-ledge, landing hard on his knees at Amy's side. She frowned at him questioningly and he began to shake his head as words failed him. Amy took a breath to say something, but the air was forced from her body as Kevin lunged towards her, grabbing his arms around her waist and burying his head into her side.

"Whoa…" she muttered, gently touching a hand to the top of his head. "Are you okay there?"

She coughed a little as Kevin tightened his hold on her.

"Easy there," she said gently stroking her hand over his head. "I know the four maniacs in this house are difficult to live with, but surely it's not that bad!"

Amy waited for Kevin to answer her, or to at least lift his head; but when he did neither she sighed softly and curled her arm around his shoulders, and continued stroking back his hair with her other hand.

"I'm glad that you're okay too," she quietly. "And I'm glad that you were looking out for me again, my angel."

-

* * *

-

**Next Chapter:** Tying up the loose ends with Kevin and Amy and finally ending this sprawling saga. Uneventful, dialogue-led, Disney-fluff chapter. **Chapter 32 – Definitely Maybe**.


	32. Definitely Maybe

**A/N:**_World of Our Own_ by Westlife.

Robin Mask trying to revive Alisa with Kevin's feather plus Robin Mask kissing Alisa in the hospital bed equals Lucretia Decoy squeeing like a fangirl. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

M'kay, that was irrelevant, but just felt the need to spread the love.

Warning: this chapter contains more fluff than a bunny rabbit's fart.

**Recap:** Kevin returned home where he found Mars and Kiki (and the rest of the Muscle League and co.) had left the Mask Estate, but Robin, Warsman and two strange women had taken their place, along with a recuperating Amy.

- 

* * *

-

**Chapter 32 – Definitely Maybe**

"I have a theory."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I think that maybe if we combined our families, we might find enough sanity between them all to make one normal person."

"I doubt it. I caught my father and Warsman using a hairdryer on the dog this morning."

"Well it could be worse."

"How, exactly?"

"The rest of your family could be here. At least Eddie and Sprite aren't prancing about the place pissing us off."

Kevin nodded before taking a sip from his mug of coffee and sitting back against the wooden back of the bench, his eyes slowly surveying the forecourt in front of him.

"So that um… That woman with the dog is your mother?" Kevin asked.

"I'm afraid so, yes," Amy replied, huddling around her mug for warmth. "And the regimental do-gooder is my little sister."

"Not your girlfriend," Kevin said aloud, almost immediately regretting his words.

"No, she's not my girlfriend," Amy said flatly. "I thought you were my girlfriend?"

Kevin shook his head.

"Are you sure? You're a high maintenance, sulky bitch with expensive taste, a big chest and long blonde hair, and you like to starve yourself," Amy said. "That makes you pretty good girlfriend material, wouldn't you say?"

"So then what does that make you?" Kevin asked her.

Amy shrugged.

"I guess I'm the man," she replied. "I'm the decisive one with a good, steady job and a driving license."

"I lost my license because of Mars," Kevin said sulkily.

"Good old Mars, he shoulders the blame for so many of your little disasters."

"And well he ought to, they are all his fault, after all."

"You're still as pleasantly unlovable as you were the day I first met you Kevin."

"And you're still as moody and domineering."

"I'm a sweet little kitten, you just bring out the worst in me."

"Your mother said you're a headstrong, obnoxious and ungrateful witch."

"She's just bitter because I didn't join the family business."

"I thought cookery was the family business?"

"No, after my dad died my mother started her own business. She sold it because I left the country to become a chef and my sister left the country to become a war machine. Neither of us hung around to join her, so she was forced to sell up."

"So really you and I are not so different, both running away from our parents."

"Oh please, you ran away because you wanted to be a bad boy. I ran away because I was following my dream. I couldn't have passed the rest of my life surrounded by flowers."

"Flowers?"

"My mother is a florist. She sold her business to Interflora."

"Of course. What else would it possibly be? Food and flowers, my two least favourite things."

Amy giggled into her mug, shaking her head.

"You know you broke poor Edward's heart," she began, making Kevin frown at her in disbelief. "That picture of you and Mars out in the street together… Edward was devastated. He has a collection of newspaper clippings of that image."

"You mean the picture of Mars pinning me to ground whilst covered in rotten food and old newspapers?" Kevin asked.

"That's the one."

"Well that's very disturbing…"

"And yet it came second in "Sexiest Image of the Year"."

"What? Second in… What?"

"First place went to that image of Nick Hasler crawling around your rose garden, crying his eyes out about the glory of love."

"I hate that song, I hate that video and I hate that boy."

"I can't understand why. You look just like him and you acted just like that song."

"I did what?"

"You turned your life into that song, you bloody great idiot! "Just like a knight in shining armour, from a long time ago, just in time I will save the day, take you to my castle far away". Kevin what did you do to me after Edward took me prisoner?"

"I… Don't understand the question."

"You showed up in your shining armour just in time to save me and you took me back here to your castle far away."

Kevin sipped at his coffee again as he considered what Amy had just said, his brain failing to offer a witty retort to recover with.

"My armour wasn't shiny, it was all dull and scratched," he tried.

"That's a pretty weak argument," Amy pointed out.

"It's something."

"Anyway, I really don't think I can stay here much longer, I might kill my mother and my sister if I have to."

"Well, I was thinking about driving a stake through my father's heart and microwaving Warsman's head, so perhaps we could make a day of it."

"That's a delightful idea Kevin, and as appealing as it is, I think it would be easier for everyone concerned if I just left. And besides, you can't afford to be breaking any more laws. I hear you're up in court on the fifth of January over your little exploits on your bike. None of that would have happened if you had a nice sensible little bike like the scooter I had back in Tokyo. It's your own fault for being power-hungry and riding around on that ridiculous road-hog."

"Yes, well, even if I wanted to, I couldn't go anywhere now anyway. My bike got towed away, my father's Bentley was deemed unfit for the road and taken in, and Mars crashed the off-road truck my father liked so much."

"Oh I heard about that! Apparently he got distracted because he saw his face in the rear-view mirror."

"I wouldn't even joke about that, it's probably true."

"It is true."

Kevin turned to Amy, who shrugged at him with a smile.

"So what now?" he asked her. "Are you going back to Planet Muscle-head to work for that intellectual colossus King Muscle again?"

"I'm still a bit pissed off that I approached him with your brother at my side holding a knife to my back and told him I was going to a funeral, whilst dressed as an utter slut and winking at him profusely and he still didn't take the hint that I was telling him a blatant lie," Amy replied. "All he said was "are you one the housemaids, because you look hot"… Of course, he'd only ever seen me in my whites, and I don't think he even knew that I was woman until he saw me standing there like… Well, like a total whore."

"I think you like dressing that way, I've seen you do it far too often."

"Are you calling me a closet slut?"

"I don't know, are you?"

"Maybe I am. Would you think it was bonerific if I was?"

Kevin groaned, rolling his eyes, drawing a giggle from Amy.

"I know what that word means," he said darkly, waggling a finger at her. "It's a reference to a…"

Amy arched her eyebrows at him as he pointed at his crotch.

"I thought it was just a combination of the words "boner" and "terrific", but if you think that it means something else then sure, why not?" Amy said with a shrug, before sipping at her mug, watching Kevin from the corner of her eye.

"Amelia, will you ever take me seriously?" he asked her.

"Not if you keep calling me that name I won't," she replied.

"I'm the reigning Chojin Crown Champion. I'm the leader of the Muscle League. I have never been defeated in a wrestling match. And I am a nasty bastard – oh, what?"

Kevin growled out a sigh of annoyance as Amy sprayed a mouthful of coffee across the porch, hurriedly wiping at her face with her sleeve as she choked and laughed on.

"I'll have you know that I have throngs of young fillies just begging for a piece of me."

Amy turned away from Kevin, doubled over the arm of the bench to laugh openly, her hair falling over her face, her entire body shaking.

"This is exactly what I was talking about!" Kevin complained. "You never take me seriously! You're always making wisecracks and flirting with me, but you're nothing more than a tease! If I wanted to hear crap jokes and listen to somebody belittle me, I would go and talk to Mars!"

"Fillies!" Amy squeaked.

"And plenty of them!" Kevin added.

"…Fillies…"

"And just why is that so funny? You said yourself, that picture of me came second in the "Sexiest… Picture of…" Well anyway, you get the point."

"A filly is a baby horse!"

"Well, maybe you can relate to that…"

Amy settled back onto the bench at Kevin's side, staring at him blankly, her dark eyes suddenly huge.

"Didn't like that, did you?" he said smugly.

Amy stared at him for a moment longer before once more breaking into a laughing fit.

"Oh for the love of God, woman!" Kevin groaned.

"It's just so…" Amy began, shaking her head, her voice bubbling with laughter. "You're just so…"

"You could do a lot worse," Kevin muttered moodily.

"But you're so snotty!"

"I'm what?"

"You're so uptight and snotty and… Pretty!"

"I am not pretty! I am a nasty bastard! I look like my father, for fuck's sake! There's nothing "pretty" about me!"

"You are very pretty Kevin. You have pretty hair and a pretty face."

"You make me sound like a Barbie doll!"

"You look like a Barbie doll!"

Amy began laughing again, but Kevin slumped lower against the bench, grumbling curses under his breath.

"It's like somebody put Barbie's head on GI Joe's body!" Amy added.

"I didn't ask for this face!" Kevin argued. "I was born this way! I would just as soon have a pig face like Kid Muscle for all I care about the matter!"

"If you did have a pig face like Kid Muscle, that would mean that King Muscle really is your father."

"Don't start that. And I'll have you know that a lot of people happen to like my face!"

"I like your face too Kevin!"

Kevin turned to Amy, eying her suspiciously.

"It just doesn't suit your abrasive personality!" she giggled.

"So that's it is it? You're discriminating against me based on the way I look? Well as soon as I get my mask fixed, I will never take it off again. How about that?"

"How will you wash your hair and brush your teeth and eat solid food?"

"I never did any of those things before anyway."

"What? Kevin! That's repugnant!"

"Do you still think I'm pretty now?"

"Pretty unhygienic, but unfortunately still also a pretty boy."

"This isn't fair. You're being very unreasonable, and very immature. I expected more of you. I don't judge you based on your physical appearance, even though it has often been very difficult not to."

"Oh really? Well hey, we can't all be as pretty as you are, Kevin."

"I wasn't talking about your face. This has never been about your face."

"Excuse me?"

Kevin quirked an eyebrow at Amy as she stared back at him expectant of an explanation, the subdued look of concern on her face finally making him feel as though he had the upper hand in their discussion.

"I always hate to see you leave, but it's always been very pleasurable to watch you go," he said slyly.

"Kevin!" Amy gasped. "That almost sounded like a really naff chat-up line from a 1980s movie! Be careful there Kevin, you almost sounded as though you were only 25 years out of touch with society!"

"Joke all you want," Kevin returned. "There is no escaping the fact that you have a magnificent arse."

Amy slowly narrowed her eyes at Kevin, but her expression remained solemn and so he pressed his advantage.

"Thinking about it has often kept me awake at nights," he said before sipping at his coffee again.

"Really?" Amy asked.

"Absolutely," Kevin confirmed with a nod of his head.

"Now that is interesting, because I never thought of you as an arse-man."

"I'm not an arse-man – wait… Don't say it like that, you make it sound like… Something else! I'm not some pervert lusting after some cheap and easy bum-fun!"

""Bum-fun"? Oh my God! Kevin, please stop, it hurts!"

Amy's half-drunk mug of coffee clattered to the porch and rolled around in a circle as she hugged her arms around her waist, laughing uncontrollably.

"You're hard work," Kevin growled. "But I enjoy a challenge. I will find a way to make you take me seriously."

"Oh Kevin, I do take you seriously!"

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I wasn't going to! You were very serious at the Chojin Crown–"

"During my match against Mars, I heard you yelling at me that I jump like a girl."

"Kevin you do jump like a girl, but you were very impressive then and–"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! I'll wager I could walk out there right now, and within five minutes I could find at least one woman who would take me seriously in a way that you never will!"

Kevin stood up, approaching the railings of the porch, pointing a finger out towards the boundaries of the Mask Estate.

"So then why don't you?" Amy asked from behind him. "What's stopping you?"

Kevin opened his mouth to answer her, a sudden rush of frustration overwhelming his common sense.

"Because I don't want some other woman off the street, I just want you!" he snapped, turning back to face her.

"Exactly."

"What?"

Amy smiled at Kevin, but his face only twisted further into a pained expression of extreme confusion.

"You said yourself: you enjoy a challenge," Amy said calmly. "That night we argued outside The Palace, if I had told you that I was just as turned on as you were by our exchange, I never would have seen you again, right?"

Kevin made a small noise of confusion, his head tilting to one side.

"You… Wait, what?"

Amy sighed, rising to her feet and slowly crossing the porch to stand directly in front of him.

"You mean to tell me that all these years I've felt like an idiot for thinking that I was turning you on, you were actually in fact turned on?" Kevin asked her.

Amy gave a small smirk, her eyebrows twitching before she adopted a look of disgust, eying him over incredulously.

"Absolutely not Kevin Mask!" she spat. "You disgust me!"

"Okay, now you really are confusing me!" Kevin snapped as she turned from him and made her way down the steps to the forecourt below.

Kevin watched her go, frowning a little as he noticed that she appeared to be swaying her hips with a little too much vigour as she walked; but as she turned her head and sent him a coy look over her shoulder, logic left him and he found himself running after her. She stopped as he neared her, turning to look up at him with an expression of innocent curiosity.

"I never said that!" he snapped defensively.

"Never said what?" Amy asked.

Kevin opened his mouth to reply, but then began to think that maybe he had just imagined her accusing him of saying something crude.

"But anyway, you should probably just stay here," he said instead.

Amy looked about herself thoughtfully.

"Right in this spot?" she asked.

"No, I mean here, at the Mask Estate. You know… With me."

"I already told you: I can't live in the same house as my mother and my sister."

"We can get rid of them, I don't want my father and Warsman here either."

"But then it would just be the two of us."

"I know, wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Amy tilted her head to one side, and Kevin felt his face begin to grow hot, his mind once more longing for his mask to conceal his embarrassment.

"Maybe it would," Amy said gently.

"It definitely would," Kevin replied, feeling suddenly optimistic.

She took a deep breath, lowering her chin as she sighed out the air again, presenting Kevin with a view of the top of her head, which only served to infuriate him.

"It's just a…" she muttered. "It's just… Sexual tension."

She lifted her head again and looked directly into Kevin's eyes, making his face turn red again and him suddenly wish that she had kept her eyes down.

"Excuse me?" he echoed.

"You and me," she replied. "If we just stopped all this talking and actually had sex, the interest would be gone. It's that human nature thing, the desire to have something that you can't have… Which was why I thought maybe it was better if we never saw each other again. We can remember it as something good this way."

"Well that was fucking lame."

Amy started, her eyes doubling in size as she looked up at Kevin in disbelief.

"I confronted all my fears for you, you're not allowed to run away from me now," he said sternly, poking a finger at her nose.

"I just think that maybe we bring out the worst in each other," Amy returned, placing her hand on top of his and gently curling his finger down away from her nose. "And every time I'm in your life, all hell breaks loose."

"My life is all about hell, it comes with the job," Kevin argued, curling his thumb over her fingers before she could retract her hand. "It will be that way whether you are with me or not, and frankly I would rather you were with me. I don't really understand why I keep letting you go."

Amy frowned a little, before lowering her eyes to their hands joined in front of her face.

"You make me feel funny," Kevin continued, deciding to take her silence as an opening to talk. "When you're around, that's what I find."

Amy's frown deepened, but she remained quiet, and so Kevin continued on.

"You make me feel happy. I've taken for granted what we had, as if I could find someone else like you."

Amy slowly lifted her eyes to Kevin, her frown deepening further still, but still she said nothing, and so Kevin carried on.

"All the time I've been looking for something, and yet all the things I've been looking for have always been here, right…"

"Right outside your door?" Amy offered.

"Exactly. What am I doing without you?"

Amy nodded, chewing at her lip, a pensive look passing over her features.

"If you insist…" she muttered, before moving her eyes to Kevin and smiling sweetly. "Well I guess I'm ready for settling down. The fooling around is over, and I swear it's true."

Kevin allowed himself to smile as he finally felt a ray of hope shine into his heart.

"No buts or maybes?" he asked.

Amy's face slipped into one of mild horror for a brief moment, but she quickly recovered it.

"When I'm falling down, there's always someone who saves me," she said gently. "And… It's you."

She touched a hand to Kevin's cheek, smiling at him warmly and he allowed himself to smile back.

"It's funny how life can be so surprising," he said. "I'm just realising what you do."

The sensation of building hope and joy in Kevin's mind was suddenly shot dead as Amy began to laugh, collapsing against his chest, her shoulders shuddering from the force of her merriment.

"What the hell are you laughing at now?" Kevin demanded, his face turning red with anger and shame that she was apparently mocking his so carefully chosen words.

"No, you're right I shouldn't be laughing," she said, stepping back from Kevin and shaking her head. "I ought to be angry with you Kevin."

"What? Why? What am I meant to have done this time?"

"I ought to be angry because you keep turning my life into a Nick Hasler song, and it's not even funny any more!"

"What?"

Amy sighed, shaking her head.

"You make me feel funny," she sang. "When you come around, well that's what I found out honey, what am I doing without you?"

Kevin paused, wondering if he ought to be disturbed by the coincidence of his first words having come from a song performed by somebody he hated so much; but before he could decide how to feel, Amy continued, and Kevin's sense of dread deepened.

"You make me feel happy," she sang on. "When I leave you behind, it plays on my mind now honey, what am I doing with you?"

"Those are just some of the words that I may or may not have said," Kevin began to defend himself.

"Took for granted everything we had as if I'd find some who's just like you," Amy sang back at him.

"A coincidence, I assure you."

"Well I guess I'm ready, for settling down, the fooling around is over, and I swear it's true."

"You said that!"

"No buts or maybes, when I'm falling down there's always someone who saves me, and girl it's you."

"Well…"

"Funny how life can be so surprising I'm just realising what you do."

"Okay, you've made your point…"

"We got a little world of our own, I'll tell you things that no-one else knows, I'll let you in where no-one else goes, what am I doing without you? And all of the things I've been looking for, have always been here outside of my door, and all of the time I'm looking for something new; what am I doing without you?"

Kevin sighed, turning away from Amy as he began to feel something he hadn't felt since his childhood days training under his father: he felt stupid, worthless and entirely not good enough no matter what he did or said.

"But I guess we could just say that it was our song."

Kevin froze, wondering if he had heard correctly.

"Right?" Amy asked, tugging at his hand.

Kevin looked down, having almost forgotten that he was still holding onto her hand. As he watched, she moved her other hand over his, enclosing it between both of hers.

"So maybe you could stay with me?" he asked, lifting his head and looking her in the eye.

"Maybe I could," she agreed.

"And maybe you could stop teasing me."

Amy narrowed her eyes.

"That wouldn't be any fun," she said. "For either of us. You love to hate it."

"I do hate it!" Kevin insisted.

"But you love that," Amy replied.

"No, I hate it."

"But you love that you hate it."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

Kevin sighed, looking down at his hand, which was still encased in both of Amy's.

"Why don't we go inside? You're obviously cold."

Kevin stiffened, his eyes lifting to Amy in question.

"Your nose is red," she said flatly. "Even a superhuman like you isn't immune to this cold, I did tell you to put a coat on before we came out here."

"I had hoped that if I didn't wear a coat you might not wear that scarf," Kevin quietly replied.

"I'm cold, the scarf is functional," Amy explained.

"But I can't see your neck."

Amy frowned and Kevin lowered his eyes to their hands again.

"I'll pretend your face is red because of the cold too," Amy said dryly. "And you wouldn't want to see my neck, it's still bruised."

Kevin met her eyes again, slowly nodding his head.

"You see, you think you make my life hell, but maybe it's the other way around," he said.

"Maybe it is," Amy agreed.

"So maybe you should leave, for the sake of your own safety."

"Maybe I should."

Kevin nodded again, sniffing a little as he suddenly found himself realising just how cold it was outwith the shelter of the porch.

"The right thing for both of us to do here would be for me to go back to Muscle Planet, and for you to go back to Tokyo to take care of the Muscle League," Amy said.

"That would be the right thing to do," Kevin agreed.

"It would be the right thing to do, but don't you always find that you and I rarely do the right thing?"

Kevin frowned, the cold air around him seeming slightly warmer somehow as he considered what Amy had just said to him. He found himself recalling his father telling him that he had "done the right thing" at the end of the Bad Blood Tournament and when he had spared Edward's life at the old DMP hideout.

"Sometimes doing the right thing isn't the best option," he said slowly.

"Definitely," Amy quickly agreed. "I mean, if you'd always done the right thing, you never would have joined the DMP, you never would have met Mars, and you never would have met… Me."

"And if you'd always done the right thing, you never would have spied on me in the DMP, you never would have tried for a job at The Palace and we wouldn't be where we are now."

"Maybe not."

"So maybe the best thing to do now, is not necessarily the right thing."

Amy nodded.

"Maybe I could stay here with you," she said quietly. "Maybe that would be the best thing for me to do, even if it's not strictly the right thing to do…"

"I think you definitely should stay here with me," Kevin confirmed.

"Maybe I will."

"You definitely should."

Amy smiled and laughed a little, making Kevin grow a little irritated as he began to wonder why she was laughing at him this time.

"I'll be missed on Muscle Planet, you understand," she said, feigning solemnity. "With me gone, who will bring Kid Muscle breakfast in bed every morning?"

"Was that a significant act?" Kevin asked.

"Definitely," Amy said with a nod of her head.

"Then maybe instead, you could bring me breakfast in bed every morning," Kevin offered.

"Really?" Amy asked. "I'm surprised: I thought you hated food, especially the kind I cook."

"I wasn't asking you to bring me food…"

Amy opened her mouth to reply before faltering a little, bringing a small smile to Kevin's lips.

"There's hope for you yet, Kevin," she said, smiling back at him. "I believe that you have it in you to have fun."

"And I believe that you have it in you to deliver an unambiguous compliment," Kevin returned. "Hope springs eternal."

"You cheeky bastard!" Amy scolded him.

"It was no more than you deserve, you sneaky little tease."

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you go brush your hair and eat some solid food, pretty boy."

"You are an endless pest."

"You are an endless arse."

"You are argumentative and uptight."

"You're the unpleasant, tightly wound one with a stick up his arse!"

"You're an irritating, disagreeable, sarcastic, short-tempered–"

Kevin's words were cut off as Amy lunged towards him, pressing her lips to his. He moaned against her in surprise, blinking at her curiously as she leaned back again, looking up at him innocently.

"There's something inherently wrong with that, isn't there?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "Arguing and insulting each other ought to make us hate each other, right?"

"Mars always says that there is a fine line between love and hate," Kevin offered.

"Which nicely brings us back to the point about why you love it when I tease you, even though you might think that you hate it," Amy replied.

Kevin sighed, scowling at her sulkily. She shrugged in response.

"Fine then," she said with finality. "If you want me to stop the teasing, I will stop."

"Right now?" Kevin asked.

"Right now."

"Good, becau–"

Kevin was once more cut off by Amy catching his lips in a kiss, but again she pulled away too quickly for his liking.

"Well, I suppose that's a little better," he concluded, scratching at the back of his head. "I'm still confused, but– hey!"

Kevin groaned as Amy suddenly collided with his mid-section in an apparent tackle that made him stumble backwards until he regained his senses and stood up to her unusual attack.

"What the devil are you doing now?" he demanded, looking down at her with a frown.

"Being direct, like you said you wanted me to," she said.

Kevin took a breath to ask her to explain herself a little better, but the air was forced from him as she suddenly kicked his ankles out from under him and threw her weight against him, sending him falling backwards onto the grassy lawn at the perimeter of the forecourt. Swiping back his hair from his face, he glared up at her incredulously, finding her crawling onto him, grinning wildly.

"What are you doing now?" he yelped.

"You said no more teasing," she replied. "You wanted me to be direct, so here goes."

"I could throw you over the other side of the estate if I wanted to!" Kevin warned her as she pressed his shoulders down against the grass.

"You could, but the exchange of power is a real aphrodisiac, you should just go with this," Amy replied.

"It's a what?" Kevin yelped.

Before Kevin could protest any further, Amy leaned down and kissed him, which he grudged a little at first; after all, it was hardly fitting for the reigning Chojin Crown champion to be pinned to the ground by an average girl and forced to do things he had no control over.

"And no Mars here to ruin things," Amy added as she pulled back from him.

Kevin closed his eyes and rested his head against the grass, a sense of ease starting to fill his being.

"Now that is a pleasant thought," he mused. "No Mars, and, more importantly, no Kiki. Just the two of us."

Kevin twitched a little as he felt something against his ear, but soon began to smirk to himself.

"You really are frisky today," he said slyly. "You raven-haired temptress, you!"

"Uh, Kevin?" Amy replied, her tone flat and dull.

Kevin opened his eyes, looking up to see Amy sat on top of him, frowning down at him curiously as her mother's dog licked at his ear.

"Ah!" he yelped, pushing the dog away from himself and sitting up to escape it.

"Ow!" Amy squealed as he inadvertently cracked his forehead against hers upon sitting up so abruptly.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" he asked.

"I will be…" Amy grumbled.

"They have got to go!" Kevin said, pointing back at the house.

"Definitely," she agreed.

"And you have got to stay!"

"Maybe."

Kevin sighed, hanging his head in defeat. He felt the dog nuzzle at the pocket of his jeans as though trying to bury its face, and Amy gently stroking back his hair from his face. He lifted his eyes to look up at her, finding her smiling tenderly at him.

"Definitely," he insisted.

"Maybe," she said.

Kevin narrowed his eyes at her sceptically, and she widened her smile in response, sliding her arms around his shoulders.

"Definitely maybe," she added.

"Good enough for me," he said with a nod.

**The End**

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**A/N(2):** Thanks as always to all who have reviewed, feedback is always appreciated, and always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I said no more sequels, but there will be one (Goddamnit) which I will be posting shortly under the title _Gone McMadd_. It will be quite short (or at least, much, much shorter than this monster was), and it won't be posted at record speed like this fic was.

Until then, thanks for stopping by.

TTFN,

Lucretia D.


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